Honolulu-based Natural Power Concepts has recently designed a mobile, retractable-blade wind turbine that is capable to generate both solar and wind energy. Being equipped with solar panels, this turbine becomes one of the newest inventions in the alternative energy field.

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Leonardo DiCaprio’s film “Inception” was made with the help of solar energy. The actor had talked to an executive at Warner Brothers studio about the idea of using solar power to run the generators used on the set.

The generators used were from Pure Power Distribution, a company that provides mobile solar power systems for use by residences to large scale productions like the Inception film set. Their S48T model used on the set of Inception includes 36 200 watt solar panels that use 600 amps to produce 72,000 watts of mobile solar power.

Pure Power Distribution has also provided solar powered generators for the Teen Choice Awards and ESPY Awards.

For more details on the DiCaprio film Inception using solar powered generators on it’s set check out the article at:

Forbes.com.

To learn more about mobile solar power systems visit Pure Power Distribution.

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Despite Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s assurances that no such provision will be included in a climate bill this summer, 27 Democrats and one Senate Republican are nonetheless pressing the Nevada senator for inclusion of a renewable electricity standard (RES). An RES would require utilities to obtain a percentage of their power from renewable resources within a set time frame, and is considered one of the best ways to promote clean energy production in the United States over the long term. Last week, Reid came out saying that such language was not in his vocabulary.

Sam Brownback of Kansas (a state that already gets 20 percent of its electricity from wind power) is the lone Republican senator to join Democrats in signing the letter urging Reid to include a national RES in his bill. Brownback is, however, staunchly opposed to any carbon cap or tax being included.

Reid and many other Democrats in the Senate are apparently fearful of a Republican filibuster because they do not have the 60 votes necessary to nullify that option (although, why they don’t force the Republicans’ hand instead of constantly allowing the opposite is beyond me). Still, Brownback and his unlikely Democratic allies believe they can get the 60 votes and that there is enough bipartisan support in the Senate to pull off an RES-inclusive bill.

Senators Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, Mark Udall of Colorado and Tom Udall of New Mexico led in drafting the letter, which argued, “A strong RES will give certainty to clean energy companies that are looking to invest billions of dollars in the U.S. to manufacture wind turbines, solar panels and other renewable energy components.”

29 states already have their own renewable energy mandates, but legislation would have to be uniform throughout the country to truly facilitate wide-scale, permanent growth in the national renewable energy industry.

Why the Opposition to RES?

The main opposition to a national RES comes from senators of both parties representing the American South, where only four states — Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina and Texas — have state-level RES portfolios.

Many of these states are rich in coal and have a strong lobby against any legislation that would tax or otherwise inhibit its production. Senators from these states often argue that their states do not have the renewable resources that other states have, such as the Southwest’s sunshine or wind along the coasts and in the Midwest. Subsequently, their states would be at a disadvantage when trying to meet RES requirements and would pay an unfair amount of penalties for noncompliance.

How the South Could Benefit from Renewable Standards

However, Environmental Leader reports that a new study, Renewable Energy in the South, released by the Georgia Institute of Technology and Duke University, asserts that a national RES would be an economic boon to the South. It claims that southern states could obtain 20 to 30 percent of their energy from renewable resources within 20 years if strong federal mandates are passed, all while adding thousands of new jobs. The South gets less than 4 percent of its energy from renewables today. Most of what there is comes from hydropower.

Yet despite letters, broad support outside the South and intense pressure from RE industries, nearly all hope for a strong climate bill coming out of the Senate this year is gone. The heavily compromised bill Harry Reid is expected to release this summer will include some minor but largely ineffectual clean energy incentives and some oil and gas industry regulations in response to the BP oil spill. Reid has shown no signs yet of relenting on his no-cap, no-RES position.

Photo Credit: Switched

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Amorphous cores offer several advantages over cores made of silicon steel, ferrite, and powdered iron. With a higher saturation induction, the cores are half the size and weight. The ultra-thin lamination thickness of one mil (25 um) results in significantly lower core losses. Amorphous cores can operate at higher frequencies at the same flux level ,while conventional steel cores must operate at lower flux densities as the frequency increases. The cores also have a wide operating temperature range from – 55 C to 130 C.

The amorphous magnetic alloy is made in a process in which molten metal is cast into thin ribbons.

The properties of amorphous C-cores make them suitable for transformers in switching mode power supplies operating from 400 Hz to 20 KHz and inverters in welding equipment, wind turbines, and solar panels. Other uses include output filter chokes, power factor correction chokes, and high power lamp ballasts.

Alpha-Core Inc.

www.alphacoredirect.com

Solar systems are becoming a practical and an increasingly attractive renewable source of energy for the home. This is due to the three main causes; specifically, the growing costs of conventional energy, the falling costs of improved solar panels for homes and incentive programs offered by governments that make solar energy an attractive option.

In America, more than 10,000 homes and businesses are powered entirely by solar panels. In addition to that, 200,000 homes and businesses use solar systems to partially meet their energy requirements. That leads to substantial savings on energy bills. Respectively, the use of conventional resources like fossil fuels is reduced, which results in less environmental impact.

The cost of installation for a typical home can run $18,000-20,000 if carried out by a professional contractor. Such high cost prevents people from using solar systems. However anybody can save on installation costs by applying for tax credits and state rebates. Also, if you do it yourself, the cost would be only about 30 % before tax credits and rebates.

You do have a couple of choices: a stand-alone system which needs a storage battery or a system that is tied to the grid.

A good improvement to your home would be to convert to grid-intertied solar energy unit. As always, planning is the main prerequisite of successful conversion.

First, calculate the energy you will need based on past history. You should choose the right size of your solar energy unit. An oversized energy system will produce more power which you could sell to the grid, but you can only get credit for it and not cash.

Next, determine if your home is suitable for a solar system. These factors are to be considered:accounted for: available space on the roof, house orientation and climate. A good estimate of roof space is 80 to 100 square feet per kW. A house should be oriented towards south for the solar panel system to be efficient, and should be free of objects that may obstruct sun rays.

Though you can mount the solar panel units on poles, panel systems are usually mounted on roofs. With the help of stainless steel bolts, the supports are attached to roof rafters. The panels are then installed on the mounts.

Solar panel kits are available on the market. There are suppliers that offer their wares on the web, but it is not advisable to buy from them unless you have previous experience with installing them.

Standard set of hardware you will need for a stand-alone system without a battery that is tied to the grid includes: solar panels, power inverter, kW/hour meter, mounts to be installed on the roof, a couple of heavy duty safety switches, wirings and cable conduits. A DIY kit for a 1-kW system would cost a little over $3,000.

If you are not experienced in this area, you should choose a reputable supplier who is known for quality service. It is just sensible to look for DIY kits with an installation manual that at least has enough illustrations. The supplier should preferably have contact telephone number, and better yet, could provide a representative in case you run into a problem with installation. Or if you are lucky enough to have a friend who is experienced in installing home solar systems, then ask him to assist you in the procurement of the hardware and in the installation.

Many have proven that renewable energy can save you money and the Mother Earth. With availability of improved, inexpensive solar panels for homes and businesses, solar energy is the best option for the majority of people, so go back to that home improvement project: install a home solar power unit.

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Energy Tags: clean energy, biodiesel

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There has been research work going on to increase the efficiency of the cost-effective amorphous solar panels. TU Delft has been the center where this research work is being developed. The research will directly help in increasing the efficiency of amorphous solar cells – from a 7% to a 9%. Crystalline silicon is most [...]
Posted in: Inventions, PhotoVoltaics, Solar Power

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Even if you have previously had a solar estimate, and did not act because it was just not penciling out for you, you should get a new estimate, if it was six months ago or more. At that time, given those variables, that was the situation. But things are very fluid in the solar world. Some prices are dramatically lower now. So many things are changing. You should not assume that the price you got six months ago holds true today.

Some companies now have access to solar panels that have had very steep price cuts.

You should get an estimate from a different company too, for another reason if your first didn’t pencil out back then. Sales people are human. Some may have made a snap judgment rather than spend a lot of time on an estimate because your needs are too low, simply because the cost-benefit for the sales person didn’t pencil out when there were so many large systems they could sign up instead in the same time.

Some solar companies compensate their sales force in such a way as to discourage them from installing the small systems that frugal energy users  would get by with. It is less profitable getting guys up on a tiny or shaded roof to put in a small system. It is opportunity lost for bigger sales for them, while they are arguing at city hall for your measly permit.

But many solar sales-people have mined the “low-hanging fruit” of larger systems (that are most profitable to them) and are now more willing to look seriously at small systems, since the math has changed.
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There are a lot of various applications for solar panels for homes. Solar systems for home uses can come in two different variations, those that utilize the sun’s rays for electrical purposes, and others that are utilized to merely heat water. Both systems can save you significant amounts of money very quickly as well as in the future. Solar electrical power systems have a number of positive things. They are capable of relieving a great deal of pressure off of using your power grid, saving you lots of money during the day. With sufficient battery back-up, you could even enjoy power at night, or when the grid is down. The majority of people utilize solar electricity to completely meet power requirements for their entire residence, completely relying on green power.

Solar panels for home use can be used to heat up your water supply, saving you money. In colder locations, where the water table temperature is less than sixty degrees, using solar power can heat up water to a relatively high ambient temperature. This could result in relieving a great deal of pressure on water heaters, because it doesn’t require much time to heat up water. For temperatures above 60 degrees, and where there is sufficient sunlight, you should even be able to forget about your boiler entirely. Even if you heat up the surrounding water, this can cut your heating expenses by 40-60%. As an alternative to solar systems having a photovoltaic cell array, one will be able to apply the ones that have pipes running through the body. When the water goes through, the sun’s rays heat up the water (more or less based on the kind of piping used). If this water is going through evenly before running into the hot water inlet, it will be warmer.

Solar systems for your home are capable of doing much more than just heat up your water supply and generate electricity. Solar systems help us save the environment. For one thing, they use energy that is never-ending, renewable, and completely free for anyone to use. Generating electricity from the sun doesn’t require the use of our natural resources, and solar panels don’t give off any bad emissions. It does not matter if you are still hooked up to the external power network, or fully support your power needs yourself, using solar energy can help reduce overall power usage. This will ease the burden on power plants, many of which still run on fossil fuels such as coal and heating oil to generate electrical power.

With the right solar panel power system in place, not only will it pay back the initial investment in a short amount of time, but it will even make you some money. How will it do that? If your power system is connected to the main power network still, and you produce more electricity than you can actually use, it goes directly back into to the main power network. In essence, you become a small power generation facility, and by law, utility companies must purchase this additional power from you. You shall make arrangements beforehand, but even ten or fifteen dollars a month is better than making nothing at all.

The majority of individuals who utilize solar panels for homes will remain hooked up to the grid, just to receive extra income. In closing, not only can home solar systems be used to save you dollars on your bills, but can also be turned into an extra income stream.

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Energy Tags: alternative, hybrid cars

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China attracted more asset financing in clean-energy technology in the second quarter than Europe and the U.S. combined, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. A clever piece of legislation created the renewable energy bonanza.

Six months ago, China made it the law that all utilities have to buy any renewable power put on the grid or they get fined. Since then private investment in renewable sources in the country has surged past US and EU levels. Investors are betting on China.

In the second quarter, outside financing of wind turbines, solar panels and low-carbon technology in China soared 72% to $11.5 billion.

China’s renewable sector accounted for one third of renewable investment for the period for the entire world, which totaled $33.9 billion, including all share sales, venture capital, private equity and asset finance.

Of this amount, private investment in clean energy in the US rose to $4.9 billion for the quarter while in Europe it fell to $4.5 billion for the same time period. (more…)

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In case you missed the happenings of the solar world this week, here’s a quick solar news roundup:

Homeowners in Massachusetts are increasingly turning to residential solar for environmental reasons, according to the Boston Globe. In the midst of environmental disasters, rising energy costs, and increased talks of climate change, residents are turning to solar energy. And going solar is easier than ever with state and federal tax incentives and companies like SunRun, that make it affordable and easy to switch to solar.

In Washington, the atmosphere was more somber, as Democrats called off efforts to advance a major climate change bill through Senate. According to Senator Harry Reid, proponents of the bill knew they simply did not have enough votes and officials favored moving on, rather than stall the Senate over the bill.  Instead, the Senate has pursued a more limited bill responding to the BP oil spill and tightening standards for energy efficiency.

On a lighter note, the Zephyr, an unmanned solar airplane, has set some outstanding records for longest flight…powered entirely by the sun! For over two weeks, the Zephyr has been flying over Arizona, day and night, thanks to the paper thin solar panels on its wings. The solar plane presents great potential for persistent surveillance and communications.

And over here in California, a team of scientists at the California Institute of Technology and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was awarded $122 million by the U.S. Department of Energy to establish the Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub. This Hub would focus on “artificially simulating photosynthetic processes…to produce innovative sources of energy”, or converting sunlight into fuel.

It’s been a busy week for solar! Let us know if you think we left out a crucial solar news story and we’ll be happy to include it in our solar news roundup.

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