Mercifully, Labor Day is all about taking a day off to enjoy the last fruits of summer. As you return from the long weekend, are you wondering how you can make your office a greener place, especially now that you’ll be there every weekday until Thanksgiving? (We’re so sorry to point that out.)
Hopefully you’ve seen [...]
THIN FILM SOLAR PANELS
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Archive for August, 2008
Greenpeace Staging Rolling Sunlight Tour to Showcase Solar Energy
Posted in August 31st, 2008
by Carol Gulyas in Greenpeace, Rolling Sunlight, Uncategorized, biodiesel, grass roots organizing, solar energy
Greenpeace USA rolled through my town, Bloomington, Indiana this weekend as part of its national tour to showcase solar energy. Rolling Sunlight will visit 50 communities across the nation talking to people and filming their own comments on how global warming is affecting their lives or will affect their children’s lives.
Their schedule for the next few weeks follows; the tour will proceed through October 16th where it will end in Washington, DC.
- 9/2 Columbus, OH
- 9/5 Phoenixville, PA
- 9/7 Philadelphia, PA
- 9/10 Elmira, NY
- 9/12 Oneonta, NY
The presence at these events consists of a 26-ft. biodiesel-fueled truck, a video camera, and an “action tent”, plus 256 square feet of solar panelsupplying enough energy to power three homes. At the action tent visitors can learn more about global warming by viewing videos and write a postcard to their local representatives to pressure them to act on climate change legislation.
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Study Finds Wind Turbines Killing Bats Without Even Hitting Them
Posted in August 29th, 2008
by Timothy B. Hurst in barotrauma, bat deaths, bats, renewable energy, university of calgary study, wind energy, wind turbine
Researchers a the University of Calgary found that the vast majority of bats found dead at a wind farm in Southwest Alberta suffered severe injuries to their respiratory systems consistent with a sudden drop in air pressure - called barotrauma.1 The findings, published in the most recent issue of the journal Current Biology could potentially have far-reaching consequences on bat populations.
Barotrauma is a condition resulting from drastic changes in air pressure occurring, for example, when the bats fly through an area where the pressure drops dramatically, such as it does near a spinning turbine blade.
Historically, less than one bat fatality per turbine per year is considered normal, according to scientists. At this particular wind farm, the numbers were closer to 18 bats per turbine. But researchers found that the vast majority of dead bats had no visible trauma, as if they were being struck by a blade tip moving at 250 km/hr.
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Plastic Electrical Grid Will Generate Power at Bottom of PA River
Posted in August 29th, 2008
Vandergrift, PA is ditching its longtime reputation as a steel town to become a model of sustainability. First up in the transition: installing a grid of electricity-generating smart materials on the bottom of the Kiskiminetas River. The town hopes that the grid—along with a healthy dose of energy conservation efforts—will generate between 20 and 40 percent of the town’s electricity.
The underwater grid will consist of flexible strips of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), a material that generates electricity upon movement. In this case, currents in the river will provide the grid with the necessary undulations.
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Chevy Volt 2010 Unveiled in Transformers 2 Spy Footage
Posted in August 29th, 2008
by Courtney Carlisle in Chevy Volt, alternative fuels, chevrolet, electric cars, hybrid cars, technology, transformers, transformers 2, transportation
Thank goodness for over eager car buffs and Transformer fans - this morning, our friends at Jalopnik posted some great “spy” pics of the yet-to-be-released 2010 Chevy Volt and got some great video of it in it’s break out role in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
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Over $400 M Poured Into Thin-Film Solar Tech In One Week
Posted in August 29th, 2008
by Ariel Schwartz in alternative energy, crystalline silicon, solar, solar energy, solar power, thin film, thin film solar
This past week was an eventful one for thin-film solar companies Nanosolar and AVA Solar , which received a total of over $400 million in funding.
Nanosolar, which took in $300 million, has now raised nearly half a billion dollars of capital. The company plans to use the money to expand thin-film solar panel production at its San Jose and Berlin factories.
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First Solar Power Station in Israel is Up and Running
Posted in August 28th, 2008
In the department of “How has this not already happened?”, Haaretz reports that Israel’s first solar power station is now functioning. The 50 kW solar array is on a farm in the Negev, and will be hooked up to the national power grid in two weeks.
The reason for the long wait? Israel’s state solar incentives just kicked in on July 1st. They allow home and industrial customers to receive NIS 2.01 per kWh for electricity produced. Household power plants are limited to 15 kW, and business plants are limited to 50 kW.
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Man Heats 4,000 Sq. Ft Home for $2.50 Per Day Using Passive Solar Technology
Posted in August 28th, 2008
by Ariel Schwartz in alternative energy, building with integrity, kosmer, passive solar, simonton, solar
Why spend lots of money heating your house when nature can do it for you? Upstate New York resident John Kosmer has taken passive solar to a new level in his home, which only costs $2.50 a day to heat. That’s less than $1,000 a year of heating expenses in an area of the country that gets mauled with snow multiple times a year.
Kosmer worked with Building With Integrity and Adirondack Alternative Energy to construct his passive solar house. Four-inch thick rigid polyurethane is installed on the exterior walls and under the roof, while pre-finished concrete siding covers the exterior of the home.
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