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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Sweet home Alabama Street
Small wind in urban settings |
Adam Browning |
31 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I never really thought much about small wind's potential as a significant source of a city's electricity supply. Windmills in a urban setting? I just don't see it. Didn't see it, that is, until I saw it. The other day I biked by 1303 Alabama St., in the Mission District of San Francisco. Softly -- very softly -- whirring overhead is a 1.9 kW Southwest Windpower Skystream windmill. The Choose Renewables resource estimator says that it's a class 3 wind site, but I wou ... |
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| Topics: California, energy, energy at home, solar voltaic power, wind power (all these topics) |
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Go Toward the Light
Two proposed solar projects to boost California's solar capacity by half |
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27 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:35 AM on 27 Mar 2008 Two large solar-power projects were proposed in Southern California this week that together could provide up to 500 megawatts of power, just over half the state's current solar capacity and enough to provide electricity to about 300,000 homes. One of the projects, proposed by utility Southern California Edison, aims to put solar panels on 65 million square feet of commer ... |
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| Topics: California, energy, news, solar thermal power, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Another entrant in the $1/watt solar sweepstakes
Cost of solar cells may be driven down dramatically |
David Roberts |
26 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Well lookie here! A series of manufacturing process improvements could make the cost of electricity from silicon-based solar cells comparable to today's prices for coal generation within about four years, according to a company emerging out of stealth today. The company, 1366 Technologies, will be using technologies developed in MIT labs to reduce the manufacturing costs of standard-issue multi-crystalline silicon solar cells. They say they can ultimately reduce ... |
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| Topics: business, carbon sequestration, coal, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Mind Your Business
NYT offers special section on green biz |
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26 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:36 AM on 26 Mar 2008 The Sierra Club is embarking on its first product endorsement, putting its logo on Clorox's new Green Works cleaning products. Various businesses are aiming to bypass carbon neutrality and move straight on into carbon negativity. These and more stories show up in a New York Times "Business of Green" section Wednesday, which covers the green-biz gamut, from companies trying to manufacture safer ... |
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| Topics: business, carbon neutral, climate, energy, green jobs, greening biz operations, greenish companies, news, Sierra Club, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Doing the math
Are solar incentives a subsidy for the rich? |
Guest author |
12 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest essay by Tom Konrad, a financial analyst specializing in renewable energy and energy efficiency companies, a freelance writer, and a contributor to AltEnergyStocks.com. ----- One of the most common arguments against incentives to help people buy solar panels for their homes is that they are a subsidy for the rich, paid for by everyone. The argument is that only the rich can buy a photovoltaic system, which, even with subsidies, costs thousa ... |
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| Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Next Up on the Panel ...
Solar-panel manufacturers dumping toxic waste in China |
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10 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:54 PM on 10 Mar 2008 Solar panels may look bright and shiny, but they have a dark underbelly: production of polysilicon for panels gives off a highly toxic byproduct called silicon tetrachloride. In China, where factories are rushing to alleviate a polysilicon shortage that's cramping the global solar-panel industry, the bubbly white liquid is often just dumped in nearby villages. "The land where yo ... |
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| Topics: business, China, energy, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, toxics (all these topics) |
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Introducing the Lawnba
Solar-powered lawnmower cuts grass unsupervised |
Sarah van Schagen |
07 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| OK, it's not really called a Lawnba. But it's still cool: The zero-emissions Husqvarna Automower Solar Hybrid is the world's first solar/electric hybrid robot lawnmower. ... The lawnmower uses the same amount of energy as a standard light bulb and is made from 90 percent recyclable materials. ... The mower cuts the grass with small blades in an irregular pattern, leaving a fine mulch that does not need raking and acts as fertiliser for the lawn ... |
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| Topics: energy, energy efficiency, gardening, green living, green products, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Sick of Cell Anemia?
Startup company makes thin-film solar cells via new process |
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07 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:03 AM on 07 Mar 2008 Solar company Konarka has announced that it successfully developed a new process to manufacture solar cells that could lead to a range of new solar-powered products and applications. The solar cells are made without silicon and are manufactured into a thin, light film via an inkjet printer, which means they don't need to be born in a clean room like traditional silicon cells. One dr ... |
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| Topics: business, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, tech (all these topics) |
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Blow by Blow
Company creates global map of wind patterns |
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04 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:11 AM on 04 Mar 2008 Any way the wind blows, weather-consulting service 3Tier wants to map it. The company has created a global map of weather patterns that's available free on the internet, allowing anyone to check whether there's strong enough air movement -- and transmission capacity -- to power property in a certain area. 3Tier plans to do a similar project to show the potential of solar energy, to keep the renewable-energ ... |
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| Topics: business, energy, greenish companies, innovation, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, wind power (all these topics) |
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We'll Buy What You're Cellin'
Solar photovoltaic cells are quite eco-friendly, says research |
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26 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:56 PM on 26 Feb 2008 Are photovoltaic cells truly easy on the earth when manufacturing is factored in? If the question's been keeping you up at night, rest easy: According to a solar-cell life-cycle analysis to be published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, they are. From the Archives Making a Splash. Large water utilities form climate alliance. C ... |
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| Topics: energy, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Sun spotty
Borenstein analysis of solar PV misses the point of California's solar program |
Adam Browning |
25 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I've been getting a lot of questions about this: "Solar panels a 'loser,' professor says."Severin Borenstein is an economics professor at UC Berkeley. He did an analysis of California's solar program and found that if you compare the current cost of distributed generation solar PV, which delivers retail power, with the wholesale power cost of a gas peaker running on pre-Katrina natural gas prices -- and leave global warming and environmental benefits ou ... |
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| Topics: California, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Alternate futures
Two huge power plants offer different paths forward |
David Roberts |
22 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In Sweetwater, Texas, a company called Tenaska has applied to build what will be the nation's first bona fide "clean coal" plant -- an IGCC plant that will capture and sequester CO2 emissions. (Said emissions will be used to pump more oil out of the Permian Basin oil fields, which will then be burned and create more CO2, but who's counting?) The 600MW plant is projected to be completed in 2014. Meanwhile, Spanish engineering firm Abengoa has signed a deal w ... |
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| Topics: Arizona, carbon sequestration, coal, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, Texas (all these topics) |
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Why solar?
The numbers add up for solar power, whether you're in Seattle or Albuquerque |
Edward Mazria |
19 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The New York Times published an article yesterday titled 'Silicon Valley Starts to Turn Its Face to the Sun': 'This is the biggest market Silicon Valley has ever looked at,' says T. J. Rogers, the chief executive of Cypress Semiconductor, which is part-owner of the SunPower Corporation, a maker of solar cells in San Jose, Calif.'The solar industry today is like the late 1970s when mainframe computers dominated, and then Steve Jobs and I.B.M. came out with personal c ... |
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| Topics: energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Masdar
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David Roberts |
05 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I know you can never bank on these things until they're completed, but if this goes as planned it sure will be righteously cool: Groundbreaking is scheduled for Saturday for Masdar City, a nearly self-contained mini-municipality designed for up to 50,000 people rising from the desert next to Abu Dhabi's international airport and intended as a hub for academic and corporate research on nonpolluting energy technologies. The 2.3-square-mile community, set behin ... |
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| Topics: energy, international politics, politics, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, United Arab Emirates (all these topics) |
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Jobs, jobs, jobs
Green energy projects bloom in California |
Adam Browning |
04 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Right on the heels of Tappergate, The New York Times comes out with a couple of articles exploring the economic benefits of fighting global warming. As is evident to anyone but a Taphole, the energy business is the largest business there ever is or was or will be, and therein lies not only enormous money-making opportunities but jobs, jobs, jobs. These things, we hear, are good for the economy. So, take California, which decided to get serious about developing a so ... |
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| Topics: California, economy, energy, green jobs, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Here comes the sun
California and New Jersey have high numbers of PV installations |
Joseph Romm |
31 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following essay is a guest post by Earl Killian. ----- Cooler Planet looked at the solar photovoltaic (PV) installation data from the California Energy Commission and made it visual to show just how it is growing. A static view of their data is at the right, but go to the site and move the slider to see the growth from only 1,675 grid-connected photovoltaic installations in 2002 to 29,628 installations in 2008. According to SolarBuzz: In 2006, 112 me ... |
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| Topics: California, energy, New Jersey, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Solar to the electric car: You complete me
The electrification of transportation will also help green the grid |
Adam Browning |
30 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I promised more on the impact of Project Better Place's electric car plans -- and I deliver with an article here. |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, electricity grid, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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If you build it, they will come
Growing solar industry depends on key tax credit that will expire this year |
Adam Browning |
22 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Advocates talk a lot about how renewable energy is not just good for the environment, but good for the economy as well. And here is some real-world proof: New Mexico, with strong leadership by Gov. Richardson, PRC Commissioners Lujan and Marks, and many others, has done more than most to establish the full suite of policies necessary to build a solar market. And the reward? Schott AG is investing $100 million in a new manufacturing facility outside of Albuquerque. It w ... |
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| Topics: business, economy, energy, New Mexico, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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The hybrid solar home
An alternative housing concept |
biodiversivist |
21 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Seattle is having a cold snap. It's 25 degrees outside. Our rare freezing winter days correspond with equally rare clear winter skies. Days like this make me wish I had a solar powered home that could harvest and store that free burst of energy for later use. The bottom line is that American homes are just too large to be cost effectively heated with solar energy. The push has been to get the cost of solar panels down. But, what would you get if you crossed a ... |
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| Topics: energy, placemaking, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Floatovoltaics
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Adam Browning |
20 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Land is -- and will always be -- expensive. Which is why someone should take this, and combine it with this. They could even sell the electricity back to DWR, whic uses an incredible amount of it to pump LA's drinking water up and over the Tehachapis. And if DWR would allow project developers to monetize the water savings from avoided evaporative loss, project economics would be even better. |
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| Topics: energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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The future is ... less far in the future
New nanoantennas capture sun's energy 24-7; are cheap; are not yet for sale |
David Roberts |
09 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Via SolveClimate, the latest whiz-bang new gonna-change-the-world solar technology: nanoantennas! They harvest the sun's energy even at night! They're cheap "as inexpensive carpet"! They're printed on thin, flexible sheets! They're ... in a lab somewhere. Here's hoping. |
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| Topics: energy, innovation, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, tech (all these topics) |
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A solar grand plan
A roadmap to getting 70 percent of U.S. electricity from solar by 2050 |
David Roberts |
08 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| OK, having spent an absurd amount of time bashing on a crappy article that came out while I was on vacation, let me turn my attention to an extraordinarily good one (via HillHeat): "A Solar Grand Plan," by Ken Zweibel (NREL), James Mason (Solar Energy Campaign), and Vasilis Fthenakis (Brookhaven National Photovoltaic Environmental, Health and Safety Research Center). Some flaw in my character leaves me much less able to analyze things I like, so mostly I'l ... |
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| Topics: energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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Solar cheaper than coal and falling
New developments in solar power make 'clean coal' look even dumber |
David Roberts |
26 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Let me be the last in the greenosphere to note that Nanosolar has shipped its first panels, and it's no exaggeration to say that this moment will likely be seen as a historical turning point. For a taste of the breathless anticipation around Nanosolar, read "innovation of the year" over on PopSci (or this recent piece in the NYT). Unlike so many other hyped green tech dreamers, the company is not just talking and researching prototypes. They're building fact ... |
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| Topics: coal, energy, solar thermal power, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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The success of solar depends on storage
Storage helps the sun keep shining even on cloudy days |
Kristina & Jason Makansi |
22 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| New project and technology announcements have kept solar energy in the news lately. But, as with wind, the issues of intermittency and the grid still lurk in the shadows. Some still argue that intermittency isn't a problem, or that it can be solved without storage. In a new piece in the Arizona Daily Star, reporter Tom Beal talks about those issues. As we've previously argued here, here, and here, energy storage has a big role to play in enabling sola ... |
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| Topics: Arizona, solar voltaic power, electricity grid, energy (all these topics) |
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Project Better Place
CPR for the electric car |
Adam Browning |
31 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Project Better Place has a new take on jumpstarting the electrification of transportation: they've raised $200 million (about enough to buy, what, three fuel cell vehicles?) to start building infrastructure for charging and battery exchange stations. That's just a down payment. If you play Internet Nancy Drew for a sec you will quickly find out that Israel Corp, a major investor, also has a stake in oil refineries, and 45 percent of Chery, the Chinese car company t ... |
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| Topics: cars, electric vehicles, electricity grid, energy, energy storage, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics) |
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