Appalachian State has been selected to participate in the next Solar Decathlon on the Mall in Washington DC. …
… “A total of 45 teams submitted proposals for the competition. Only 20 schools were selected for next year’s competition and Appalachian is the only university from North Carolina selected to compete in the Solar Decathlon. ” …
Via Appalachian State University: Solar Decathlon 2011
Penn State manages almost 20 percent of its electricity consumption through green power purchases. …
… “Penn State leads the Big Ten and ranks third in the nation among colleges and universities in the amount of green power it uses, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. ” …
Via Penn State: Leadership in green power use
Penn State Emissions Reduction Progress: “Maruszewski explained how the Office of Physical Plant employees have been working towards their goal of reducing emissions 17.5% by 2012. So far, Maruszewski said, the campus has reduced its emissions and consumption by 12% since 2004/2005, while the University added over one million square feet during that time. ”
List of 10 large green opportunities …
… “Green technology essentially involves revamping the physical infrastructure of the modern world: replacing coal-fired power plants with wind turbines, building homes from materials concocted in chemistry laboratories, and swapping out engines for electric motors. ” …
Via Seeking Alpha: Top 10 Green Giants List
Energy rebates take off in Colorado. …
… “Renewable Energy Rebate Applications must be submitted by a contractor on behalf of the residential or small commercial applicant. ” …
Via Governor’s Energy Office: Solar Energy Rebates for Colorado
The Solar Energy Industries Association reports on the solar photovoltaic market, including residential and solar water perspectives. Venture capital continues to invest in the solar industry. And, the installed solar capacity is growing. …
… “A doubling in size of the residential PV market and three new CSP plants helped lift the U.S. solar electric market 37 percent in annual installations over 2008 from 351 MW in 2008 to 481 MW in 2009. Solar water heating (SWH) installations managed 10 percent year-over-year growth, while the solar pool heating (SPH) market suffered along with the broader construction industry, dropping 10 percent. ” …
Via Solar Energy Industries Association: US Solar Industry, Year in Review (PDF)
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is just starting to impact solar growth and that channel of investment should begin to accelerate, as capacity comes onstream.
Tax credits are being targeted to create domestic solar manufacturing jobs.
The solar industry value chain is estimated to have grown to approximately 46,000 jobs in the U.S.
California, New Jersey, and Nevada lead in cumulative solar capacity, while Florida and Arizona are accelerating their solar installations.
University of Hawaii Engineering school in collaboration with Hawaiian Electric receives $2.5-million federal grant to educate and train stakeholders for emerging jobs in renewable energy. …
… "Utility companies like Hawaiian Electric will benefit from better informed consumers, educators and a future workforce trained in renewable energies. In addition to creating a pipeline to support the integration of new wind, solar, wave and smart grid technologies, the project aims to enhance the training of the existing workforce in these areas. " …
Via University of Hawaii: Clean energy program
Suntech MsK BIPV modules (PDF).
Biosphere 2 will showcase the deployment of solar panels on its geomembranes, which could be leveraged on mining and landfill operations. …
… “The new solar panels are mounted at a 50-degree angle on geomembranes, the kind that are usually utilized at landfills or mine tailings to prevent dust and water pollution. ” …
Via Arizona Daily Wildcat: Earth Day event, Biosphere 2
Biosphere 2 Earth Day 2010:
Now Generation Festival
April 17, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Biosphere 2 Earth Day 2010 event: “The University of Arizona Biosphere 2 is excited to announce the second annual Earth Day 2010: Now Generation Festival.”
College student is recognized with award to further his development as a green technology leader. …
… “He spent last summer at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München researching solar cells under a German government fellowship for American students. Before arriving at Stanford in 2007, Sivaram spent a summer working on thin-film photovoltaics at Nanosolar Inc., a San Jose company that makes solar electricity panels specifically designed and developed for solar power plants. ” …
Via Stanford: 2010 Truman Scholar
Updated MacBooks include improvements that increase energy efficiency through hardware and software optimizations. …
… “And yet the 320M, despite being more muscular (it provides an 80% performance gain over the 9400M), is 40% more energy efficient. That boosts the battery life of the laptops as much as three hours … ” …
Via BusinessWeek, GigaOm: New MacBooks Shine
The University of Queensland deploys powerful array of photovoltaic panels to improve its carbon footprint and participate in the build out of a solar micro-grid. …
… “The new project, to be located on three buildings at UQ’s St Lucia campus, will feature a 1.2 MW solar photovoltaic installation capable of producing 1750 MWh of electricity a year. This will save approximately 1750 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually, which is equivalent to taking 335 cars off the roads each year. ” …
Via The University of Queensland: UQ goes solar
Art renderings will inspire future solar photovoltaic installation. …
… “Probably only the fact that they are the inspirations for designs submitted by three internationally renowned artists, finalists in a UB-sponsored public art competition for a solar installation to be constructed on the university’s North Campus in partnership with the New York Power Authority (NYPA). ” …
Via SUNY at Buffalo: Vision for solar installation
Dow solar shingles should begin to reach the market mid-year. …
… “The solar shingle systems are expected to be available in limited quantities by mid-2010 and projected to be more widely available in 2011 … ” …
Via The StockMasters: Dow Chemical Powerhouse
DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle: “Solar shingle integrates low-cost, thin-film CIGS photovoltaic cells into a proprietary roofing shingle design, which represents a multi-functional solar energy generating roofing product. The innovative product design reduces installation costs because the conventional roofing shingles and solar generating shingles are installed simultaneously by roofing contractors. ”
Ford EcoBoost engine will be deployed to more models and will be optimized to improve fuel efficiency. …
… “in the future it will further improve the economy and power of EcoBoost engines by using more efficient turbochargers and fine-tuning the precision of the direct-injection fuel system. ” …
Via New York Times, Wheels Blog: Ford EcoBoost Engine
The ecoBoost engine improves fuel economy through optimization techniques. …
FORD ECOBOOST ENGINE TECHNOLOGY: “EcoBoost’s combination of direct injection and turbocharging mitigates the traditional disadvantages of downsizing and boosting 4- and 6-cylinder engines, giving customers both superior performance as well as fuel economy. With direct injection, fuel is injected into each cylinder of an engine in small, precise amounts. Compared to conventional port injection, direct injection produces a cooler, denser charge, delivering higher fuel economy and performance. ”
Ford collaborates with electric utilities on infrastructure to support its emerging EVs. …
… “The comments underscore the intensifying pressure within the auto industry to attack the hurdles facing mass adoption of electric vehicles while the Obama administration continues to tighten emission standards. ” …
Via Wall Street Journal: Electric-Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
Insights on Ford’s electric vehicle strategy and the tactics required to create industry cooperation. …
Ford Plan For Eectric Cars via Jalopnik: “Ford already has other collaborations and partnerships to accelerate the commercialization of electrified vehicles. ”
Scheduling techniques can be applied to leverage off-peak utility rates and use thermal facility to store chilled water. This results in a win for the utility, Progress Energy, and the customer, UCF. …
… “The Thermal Energy Storage Facility — the only one of its kind at a Florida university — allows UCF to chill water at night, taking advantage of Progress Energy’s off-peak energy rates, which are approximately 50 percent lower than daytime rates. ” …
Via Univ of Central Florida: Energy Rebate
Progress Energy Off-Peak Schedule: “You reduce your bill by shifting your electric use to off-peak periods and staggering the use of major appliances (such as your electric water heater, dishwasher and dryer) during on-peak hours. You are charged a lower rate for electricity used during off-peak periods. ”
Dow Jones is implementing large solar energy system at its New Jersey headquarters, using ground mounted photovoltaics in its parking zones. …
… “It says it expects to install a 4.1-megawatt solar power system at its 200-acre campus in South Brunswick, N.J., next year. Dow Jones says the system will be one of the largest solar installations at a single commercial site in the U.S. The panels will cover nearly 230,000 square feet of parking space … ” …
Via USA TODAY: Dow Jones N.J. campus solar installation
GE readies its 9 watt Energy Smart LED bulb for market, which will replace 40-watt general service incandescent bulbs. The new LED lighting will arrive on store shelves later this year or in early 2011 and the retail pricing is expected to be in the range of $40 to $50. …
… “The new GE Energy Smart LED bulb is expected to outperform currently available products that may be underwhelming consumers right now. GE scientists and engineers designed the bulb to better direct light downward on the intended surface and all around, not just out the top of a lampshade, as most current LED bulbs are prone to do. The new GE LED bulb offers 450 lumens — the Energy Star threshold to be considered a 40-watt incandescent replacement. Currently available LED bulbs produce 350 lumens or less. GE has filed multiple patent applications for the bulb and expects it will be an ENERGY STAR qualified LED omnidirectional light bulb. ” …
Via GE: Future of LED Lighting
GE makes sigificant European wind energy investment with offshore wind turbine manufacturing located in the United Kingdom. …
… “At the core of GE’s European expansion plans is the development of GE’s next generation wind turbine, a 4-megawatt machine designed specifically for offshore deployment. As the largest wind turbine in GE’s fleet, it will incorporate advanced drive train and control technologies gained through GE’s acquisition of ScanWind. The 4-megawatt wind turbine will feature GE’s innovative technology that eliminates the need for gearboxes. This technology is already being demonstrated at a test site in Hundhammerfjellet, Norway, where the first ScanWind direct drive unit has been operating for more than five years. ” …
Via GE: European Offshore Wind Expansion
Wake Forest researchers work to improve the solar energy production from cells and patent their cell configuration. …
… “These new solar cells are made from millions of miniscule plastic fibers that can collect sunlight at oblique angles – even when the sun is rising and setting. Flat-cell technology captures light primarily when the sun is directly above. ” …
Via Wake Forest: Efficient, inexpensive fiber-based solar cells