Residential Solar Power Blog

Big Solar vs. Big Labor: Tension in the Blue-Green Alliance

Dan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:26:39 +0000

Union labor has been suffering over the last few decades, strained in the face of free trade agreements and outsourcing. Now a new green-collar economy is on the rise, rife with potential for jobs that cannot be outsourced and a voracious demand for skilled tradesmen. Unions are pressing for a large stake in that economy. Photo credit: CURE

Nationally, that push has led to a so-called blue-green alliance, in which unions and environmental groups have teamed up to press the clean energy issue — environmentalists get clean energy and an army of “enforcers” while unions get high-quality green collar jobs and increased membership. It is a win-win situation. But in California, America’s solar frontier, that alliance is being tested. Tensions are beginning to rise, and accusations tossed about, as union leaders press hard for inclusion in the many large-scale energy projects on the state’s docket.

The tension in California rises from implications that labor organizations, under the guise of environmental stewardship, are attacking and delaying only those large solar projects that refuse to sign a project labor agreement. In fact the unions — as part of California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE) — have been quite effective in halting solar projects, much to the ire of well known solar firms such as Ausra, which was met with a slew of environmental “data requests” before a proposed solar plant could go forward.

Contrarily, when BrightSource Energy, which pledged to hire union-friendly contractors, wanted to move forward on an even bigger solar power plant in California’s Mojave Desert, CURE made no complaint. This apparent double standard has set off a fight between Big Solar and Big Labor in California, a fight that could set the stage for renewable energy construction nationwide. (more…)

Solar-Powered Furniture

Dan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:10:04 +0000

What will they think of next? Well the next answer to that question — in a seemingly endless line of answers — is solar powered furniture. Yes the design, texture, and color of your next bench seat could all be calculated by none other than that great fiery ball in the sky.

Austrian design team mischer’traxler has come up with a solar powered contraption that creates a wide assortment of very unique furniture pieces. The makeup of each piece — one per day — is dictated solely by how much sunlight the machine receives throughout that day.

One Tree of an Idea

They call it “The Idea of a Tree,” and variations in weather, sunlight, time of year, and any pertinent environmental factor will create furniture of different shape, color, size. You might call it photosynthetic furniture. Stools, benches, containers, lamp shades; these are a few of the “Tree’s” solar powered creations to date.

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Is Community Power Blowin’ in the Wind?

Dan — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:07:07 +0000

One advantage for solar over wind power is its ability to integrate with relative seamlessness into the municipal landscape. Wind turbines have either been too large, such as the 300-ft. tall behemoths comprising remote wind farms, or quite small, just big enough to power a single home. A dilemma for wind energy proponents has been how to create an effective, quiet, community-friendly midsize turbine for use with schools, government buildings, and other community-based facilities.

Middle Ground

Now a handful of wind turbine manufacturers are releasing products they hope will quell the issue of midsize wind power. Instead of the huge 3,000 kilowatt rated turbines shipped out to utility-scale farms on fleets of trucks, there are now much smaller 150 to 300 kilowatt turbines on the market — or coming soon. Manufacturers also hope these turbines will be found useful and financially sound in areas not known for a high wind resource. That includes Connecticut-based Optiwind, formed two years ago specifically to make midsize turbines that work in places like its home state and are geared toward schools, water treatment plants, and businesses — facilities with high energy needs which also lie within the community electrical grid.

There wind enthusiasts run into the hurdle of a population often leery of potential noise pollution, visual appeal, and flickering lights. In response Optiwind has varied considerably from the now-conventional three-blade turbine design. Instead they’ve opted for a cylindrical design (still about 200 feet tall) which has fans mounted on either side. The idea is that the wind will hit the circular structure swirl around it and through the fans, thus concentrating the wind so that it will enter the fans at a higher density and produce more power using less space. (more…)

10 Solar Funding Opportunities

Dan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:31:51 +0000

Photo credit: Real Goods Solar

At the end of May, President Obama announced over $117 million in new solar funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. Their proposed end being to support “the widespread commercialization of clean solar technologies and to scale up U.S. Solar manufacturing and production.” The means will likely entail more public-private partnerships between government institutions, laboratories, and universities with private sector firms.

Complementary to the increase in funding are two specific funding opportunities. These will be the first two of the following 10 examples of solar funding opportunities, the vast majority of federal examples distributed via the Solar Energy Technologies Program (SETP).

Solar Market Transformation. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is meant to “address market barriers” to the spread of solar technologies. It will focus on the Solar America Cities Projects and solar installer training. The funding is available to the current group of 25 Solar America Cities for projects that are new — no funds available for the renewal of previous government funded projects.
High Penetration Solar Deployment. This FOA deals specifically with solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, ranging from the development of “improved modeling tools” to modular power architecture, demonstration projects, and energy storage. The goal is to discover, develop, test, and employ PV models and projects that can better penetrate our national grid distribution system.
Minority University Research Associate (MURA) Program. MURA is meant to encourage minority students to pursue careers in science and technology, with up to $1.8 million available for solar energy research and development. Undergraduate and graduate students, plus their faculty advisors, are eligible for up to $300,000 for study topics including PV, concentrated solar power (CSP), solar manufacturing, testing, and studies of applications and markets.

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Maximize Home Efficiency with Electronic Sensors

Dan — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:07:28 +0000

Step number one in going solar is to evaluate your home’s energy consumption. Furthermore, the best way to minimize the initial costs of the solar transition, as well as maximize the value and effect of your solar system, is to minimize energy usage while maximizing energy conservation. In the age of digital home technology, utilizing electronic sensors in the home is a great way to easily and effortlessly conserve water and electricity within the home.

And electronic sensors are increasing their impact on every facet of home energy consumption, both inside and out. Following are a number of home products, devices, and systems that can benefit greatly from the addition of electronic controls and sensors. These possibilities for today’s home will almost certainly be standard in the smarter and more efficient home of tomorrow.

Electronic Window Shades are a great way to regulate passive solar heating. They can be controlled remotely or as part of a programmable home automated system. On one hand you can program them to open in the morning as the sun rises to maximize solar heat gain in the cooler months, as well as program them to shut when it’s time to keep the heat out. Electronic window coverings come in the form of shades, blinds, shutters, and even draperies.

Electronic Windows take it one step further to include smart ventilation. Electronic sensors can detect changes in temperature or sunlight and open or close the windows based on the optimum for home comfort and efficiency. You can already see these in action at the world’s first “active” house, if you’re ever in Denmark.

Automated Lighting is another valuable option. Many homeowners tend to leave a light on when they leave the home, knowing that they’ll return home in the dark. Motion and home occupancy sensors can eliminate the need for that energy-sapping habit. Outdoor motion sensor lights are fairly common and enable you to find your keys without tripping over the doormat. But interior sensors are catching on as well. They’ll sense you and turn on the entry light and are also great in bathrooms. You can program the sensor’s sensitivity and duration of lighting to fit your needs. Programmable dimmer switches are another option that allows you to set shut off times (great for kids’ rooms). (more…)

20 Solar Tweets

Jennifer — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:15:45 +0000

I tought I taw a putty-tat! I did, I did!

While that yellow Tweety was highly entertaining, today the yellow Tweeties gaining in popularity come in the form of companies, organizations, and enthusiasts bellowing everything they can about solar power on Twitter.

You can follow any or all of them and learn something new everyday about solar power, solar technology, solar events, solar programs, and more. Here are a few you might want to check out:

@5 Iron Solar Carts. Michigan-based company comprised of four entrepreneurs dedicated to “greening up” the golf industry with their solar-powered golf carts. Tweets include news and updates on what and how the company is doing along with links to other news in the world pertaining to solar power and motorized vehicles.

@13 Moon Solar Mama. From Toronto, Canada, this lady is promoting solar power, sustainable living and educating parents to spread the word to children about these topics and how they impact our daily lives. She tweets about solar events, solar power in the home (like her solar wastewater heater tank), solar jobs, and a bit of solar in the news.

@Alternative Power Blog. Tweets mainly to update blog posts on their site. Links relate to various different alternative power news and information like advances in solar technology, new solar-tech gadgets, renewable power plans and alternative power initiatives in government. (more…)

Solar Labyrinth to Heat and Cool NREL Facility

Dan — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:28:22 +0000

Passive solar heating is taking on labyrinthine proportions in order to save money and energy at NREL’s upcoming Research Support Facilities (RSF) in Colorado. The new, ultra energy efficient office building will consist of two lengthy wings, connected in the center by a lobby and conference area, each resting directly above a dark labyrinth. No it is not designed to confuse bull-headed beasts, nor house Bush-era members of the Department of Interior, but a labyrinth with a much more benign and energetic purpose.

This “solar” labyrinth will collect and store energy to help heat or cool the building above. It is a huge exercise in capitalizing on the thermal properties of concrete, as well as the valuable heat generated by the sun (especially in Colorado where winters are cold but relatively sunny). The labyrinth is comprised of several staggered concrete support walls beneath the massive concrete floor of the RSF itself. You might call it a sort of shallow basement, but one that will trap warm air, which in turn will slowly pass through the concrete floor throughout the night and into the morning to ease heating loads for the offices above.

The Solar Formula

The sun enters the equation by way of a transpired air collector — a metal sheet with tiny, well-placed holes designed to draw air through. The solar heated air will be drawn by fans down into the labyrinth through air vents designed into the buildings’ stairwells. There it will embark on its slow, warming journey back into the building.

In the summertime, cool air at night will be drawn down into the labyrinth where it will slowly journey upwards to help keep the air cool and ease heating loads. The S-curves of the basement will force the air to linger awhile before escaping through vents, maximizing the amount of energy (cooled or heated) retained by the building itself. (more…)

Coal-Fired Solar?

Dan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:14:17 +0000

Photo credit: Rennett Stowe

Does solar manufacturing have a “dirty little secret?” This was the question at hand for a recent article in the Bay City Times, a newspaper located near Midland, Michigan where a new Evergreen Solar manufacturing facility is set to open later this year. The controversy stems from the coal-fired electricity, bought from regional energy supplier Consumer’s Energy, that the Evergreen Solar plant will require and that existing big-time solar manufacturer Hemlock Semiconductor already does.

The majority of usable electricity in Michigan, and many other places in the country, is still produced by way of coal-fired power plants; not much of a secret. So the inevitable argument arises that the process of manufacturing solar panels is inherently opposed to the very energy savings they claim to create. In Bay City and Midland the debate is exacerbated by yet another $2 billion, 800 megawatt plant proposed by Consumer’s Energy in the area: one of eight coal-fired plants now on the table in Michigan. On top of that, Hemlock Semiconductor is Consumer’s Energy’s top electricity consumer in the area.

Yet the idea that solar manufacturing plants are “wasting time” by using coal-fired electricity to build solar panels is fairly well shot down by Vasilis M. Fthenakis, also quoted in the Times piece, of the National Photovoltaic Environmental Research Center in New York. Having co-authored a study funded by the European Commission and U.S. Department of Energy, Fthenakis asserts that solar panels “pay back” the energy consumed to build them with carbon-free energy within one to 2.5 years. While making solar panels is not 100% pollution free at this point, their lifetime of 30 years or more guarantees a lasting impact on and reduction of fossil fuel consumption on the national grid. (more…)

Solar Goes Down in Texas Holdup

Dan — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:53:09 +0000

Photo credit: dherrera_96

Texas is famous for having its own way of doing things, for its “rugged” individualism and Lone Star attitude. That sort of bootstraps ambition has resulted in some amazing accomplishments for Texas, including being the backbone of an oil-based economy that helped make the United States the most powerful nation of the 20th Century. In the new millennium, however, times are inevitably changing. In some ways Texas is leading once again, most notably as our national leader in wind power production.

Yet wind is not Texas’ only abundant renewable resource. It is also a very sunny state. Nevertheless, in a move somewhat baffling to state solar advocates, the Texas state legislature recently and roundly refused several solar proposals that could have transformed the Lone Star State into an all-around renewable energy giant. In fact, from the side of solar advocacy, it could hardly be described as anything but a slap in the face.

The rejection was three fold:

First, a proposed change to Texas’ renewable energy standard that would have incorporated stricter requirements for solar, biomass, and geothermal power failed.

Second, at the last minute of the state’s congressional session, a $500 million appropriation of funding for state solar rebates was left withering in the dust.

Third, a bill to make it more difficult for homeowners’ associations to ban solar panels — a notion widely accepted as archaic and inane — also failed at the last minute. (more…)

New Solar Roof System is Smart and Cool

Dan — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:43:31 +0000

It’s called the SmarterRoof. It comes from Petersen-Dean Roofing and Solar Systems and combines the energy-saving logic behind cool roofs with the energy producing value of a rooftop solar system. It is what Petersen-Dean CEO Jim Petersen calls “the ‘one-two’ punch” of modern roofing systems.

SmarterRoofs utilizes a custom designed, light color roofing tile, complete with an Energy Star coating to increase reflection rather than absorption of incoming sunlight. Cool roofs are getting a lot of attention lately, including some recent shout-outs from President Obama himself, as well as Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

Cool roofs utilize light or white roofs to reflect sunlight away from the home and earth. In turn they help save homeowners energy by reducing cooling loads in hot summer months (dark roofs absorb solar heat and can drastically increase the temperature within a home) and work to reduce the impact of urban heat island effect within cities and towns as well as combat global warming on a larger scale by sending the sun’s warming rays back into space. (more…)