Solar Roof Juice From Sungevity Goes Down Under

Posted on April 19, 2012 by quest

Oakland, California-based Sungevity and Australian solar company, Nickel Energy, today announced a joint venture partnership called Sungevity Australia that will provide Australian homeowners with the first ever pay-as-you-go solar option and introduce Sungevity’s innovative brand of online sunshine to the “land down under.” The new pay-as-you-go service, dubbed “RoofJuice,” broadens options for the burgeoning Australian solar market that until now, has been limited to an upfront, cash purchase model. The average cost of a five-kilowatt system (the average system size in Australia) is 12,000 Australian dollars ($12,400). Now, with the introduction of Sungevity Australia’s “RoofJuice” option, homeowners can purchase solar-generated electricity with no upfront cost, giving them instant savings on their utility bills. Sungevity Australia’s “RoofJuice” option will be available starting in late May 2012 and will incorporate the company’s brand assets and proprietary software tools, including the company’s remote solar design services.

Sungevity’s expansion to Australia marks the second global move by the company in less than six months, following an expansion to Europe in November 2011 through a partnership with Dutch Solar firm, Zonline. The company’s highly scalable model, rooted in the use of satellite and Internet technology to design rooftop solar arrays remotely, also enabled the company to simultaneously launch in five Northeast states in July 2011. Sungevity now has a presence in eight U.S. states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York – as well as the Netherlands and Australia internationally.

“We share a common vision with Nick Lake and his team, and we are excited to partner with them to introduce easy and affordable solar power to Australian homeowners,” said Andrew Birch, Chief Executive Officer, Sungevity, Inc. “Our move in to the Australian market is further proof that our business model is exceptionally scalable and that customers all over the globe are demonstrating the desire to get easy access to clean energy.””Sungevity’s innovative iQuote technology, coupled with a ground-breaking and disruptive pay-as-you-go model, will enable a new class of Australian customer to go solar,” said Nick Lake, Managing Director, Nickel Energy. “The introduction of Sungevity ‘RoofJuice’ will undoubtedly transform the Australian solar market, and we are excited about leading the way.”

Virgin Gets Its Green On In San Francisco

Solar Eclipse Live From Mt. Fuji Using Solar Power

Posted on April 18, 2012 by quest

Panasonic has launched “ECLIPSE LIVE FROM FUJIYAMA by SOLAR POWER” broadcast and will the annular solar eclipse on May 20, 2012 live to the world from the summit of Mt. Fuji, an important symbol of nature in Japan, using only green power.“ECLIPSE LIVE FROM FUJIYAMA by SOLAR POWER” This project seeks to highlight to the world Panasonic’s devotion to its “Energy Solution” business and the dynamic technologies and products behind it. All electricity required for the devices used for broadcasting, such as video cameras, filming equipment, and computers, will be drawn from “HIT Solar Cells,” with industry-leading power output, and be supplied through rechargeable batteries made by Panasonic. On the day of the eclipse, Mt. Fuji will be ideally located within the “central eclipse path” that allows for optimum viewing, and the view is especially spectacular in the clear air of the mountain peak. However, the summit of Mt. Fuji in May is covered in snow with freezing temperatures, and there is no electricity available for daily activities. Therefore, the project staff will charge up portable power supplies for domestic use with power generated from the HIT solar cells and carry them up the frozen face of the mountain.

Along with the staff’s work to overcome such an inhospitable environment, the project will broadcast live the annular eclipse to the world from the closest point to the sun in Japan.The project’s progress will be documented on a special website and Facebook page to be launched on April 17 (April 18 JST) until May 20 (May 21 JST), the day of the annular solar eclipse. We plan to report on the filming equipment, introduce the staff members, and conduct trial tests in advance of the eclipse. We are looking forward to bring the mystical phenomenon of the annular eclipse to as wide a global audience as possible.

Panasonic recently sponsored “Photosynthesis”at Milano Salone del Mobile 2012 exhibition, being held in Milan. It was designed by noted young architect Akihisa Hirata, whose organic vision of a living, breathing architecture reflects the open yet interdependent symbiotic cycles in nature. At this year’s exhibition, Panasonic will present an energy cycle, comparing it to an ecological cycle that begins with photosynthesis, starting with energy creation (through solar panels), and continuing to energy storage (through storage batteries) and energy saving (through LED and organic LED lights), with each stage of the cycle being controlled by an energy management system.

Solar Installs Push PG&E To Top Spot

Posted on April 18, 2012 by quest

“PG&E is pleased to support our customers’ choice to go solar so they can realize the benefits of solar energy for their homes and businesses,” said Helen Burt, Senior Vice President of Customer Care for PG&E. “We remain committed to providing our customers with clean, reliable, and affordable energy, including an increasing amount of power from large utility-driven solar projects.”A new survey by the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) ranks Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) as the nation’s top electric utility in the amount of solar power added to its system in 2011. PG&E is first in the Annual Solar Megawatts category of the more than 240 utilities that participated in SEPA’s 2011 Utility Solar Rankings survey.

“We congratulate PG&E for being a solar power leader in the electric utility sector,” said Julia Hamm, President and CEO of SEPA. “PG&E successfully adapted its business models and operations to allow for a significant amount of solar energy to be integrated into the grid last year, delivering the many benefits of clean solar energy to its customers. The impressive gains solar energy made in the U.S. in 2011 can be largely attributed to PG&E’s leadership.”

PG&E delivers some of the nation’s cleanest electric power to its customers, thanks in part to solar energy. On average, more than half the electricity the utility delivers comes from sources that are renewable and/or carbon free. PG&E helped more than 12,000 customers in Northern and Central California connect 162 megawatts (MW) of solar at their homes and business in 2011, bringing the total number of customer solar installations to more than 63,000. It also connected 135 MW of new large solar projects for the benefit of all customers. This includes PG&E’s own expanding solar facilities, which when completed will deliver 250 MW of clean energy — enough to power about 150,000 average customer homes.

Electric Vehicle Technology Driving Through

Cloud Over Apple Not So Green Says Greenpeace

Posted on April 17, 2012 by quest

The current explosion in cloud computing offered by major IT companies is driving significant new demand for dirty energy like coal and nuclear power, according to a new report from International.The report, “Greenpeace How Clean is Your Cloud?” shows a growing split within the tech industry between companies that are taking steps to power their clouds with clean energy, like Google, Yahoo and Facebook, and companies like Apple, Amazon and Microsoft who lag behind by choosing to build their growing fleets of data centers to be powered by coal and nuclear energy. The report evaluates 14 IT companies and their electricity supply chains of over 80 data centers based on key elements needed to build a clean cloud.

“When people around the world share their music or photos on the cloud, they want to know that the cloud is powered by clean, safe energy,” said Gary Cook, Greenpeace International Senior Policy Analyst. “Yet highly innovative and profitable companies like Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft are building data centers powered by coal and acting like their customers won’t know or won’t care. They’re wrong.”As more people around the world use the cloud to store and share photos, videos, and documents, IT companies have to build more data centers –buildings so large they are often visible from space – that house thousands of computers and consume tremendous amounts of electricity. Some data centers use as much electricity as 80,000 U.S. homes. The report research found that if the cloud were a country its electricity demand would currently rank 5th in the world, and is expected to triple by 2020.

Companies like Google, Yahoo and Facebook are beginning to lead the sector down a clean energy pathway through innovations in energy efficiency, prioritizing renewable energy access when siting their data centers, and demanding better energy options from utilities and government decision-makers. Both Google and Yahoo are increasingly powering their facilities with renewable energy even as they continue to expand. Greenpeace International is calling on all IT companies with cloud services to: Invest in or directly purchase renewable energy; Be more transparent about their energy usage and carbon footprint, demand that governments and electric utilities increase the amount of renewable electricity available on the grid, and build data centers in areas where clean energy will power the facility.

Green Revolution – Solar Power – Video

Solar Power Has Ripple Effect On Job Creation

Posted on April 17, 2012 by quest

Four of the founding manufacturers of the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM) purchased more than a combined $400 million in goods and services from other manufacturers and employers in 46 states in 2011, according to a CASM survey. This flow of business highlights just one dimension of solar manufacturing’s multiplier effect in supporting jobs and spurring activity across the U.S. economy, according to CASM. The coalition of about 190 U.S. employers of more than 16,000 American workers contends the nation cannot afford to lose its own industry, particularly in light of advanced manufacturing’s power to generate high-paying and stable jobs and beneficial ripple effects, including research and innovation. Instead, CASM seeks trade-law enforcement to restore legal international competition and domestic manufacturing growth.

CASM is backing an anti-subsidy and anti-dumping trade case against the Chinese industry. In March, the U.S. government issued a preliminary ruling that at least 10 categories of Chinese government programs illegally subsidize Chinese producers of solar cells and panels. China’s export drive has caused a dozen U.S. solar manufacturers to shut down, declare bankruptcy or lay off employees in all U.S. regions since 2010, CASM alleges, even though the National Renewable Energy Laboratory concluded Chinese producers face a cost disadvantage in producing and delivering solar into the U.S. market.

The survey tally excludes many economic inputs, such as interest and tax payments as well as payroll for employees, ranging from Ph.D. researchers to production workers. CASM leader SolarWorld, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer for more than 35 years, employs more than 1,100 workers in Oregon and California. Average annual compensation for permanent, full-time SolarWorld employees exceeds the national average of $45,230 provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, the survey did not account for downstream support that employees of the four solar manufacturers and their vendors paid out to still other businesses – for day-care firms, supermarkets, and car and TV dealers – in their own lives, not to mention the personal interest and taxes they paid and the property they purchased.

One Day On Earth To Screen Worldwide On Earth Day

Solar Energy And The Eyes of Dragonflies

Posted on April 16, 2012 by quest

An unknown inventor, Jong-Eun Lee from Korea, obtained an extraordinary patent on an unusual solar energy system from the government in a surprisingly short time. It is very unusual because the Korean government, which is famous for its thoroughness to examine patent applications, processed this particular case very rapidly.”It is a simple structure but my invention is very convincing,” says Jong-Eun Lee confidently. He got the idea from the eyes of dragonflies. Almost all the existing solar energy systems in the world use panels, which take up a lot of space and expense, whereas Jong-Eun Lee’s system uses only relatively small ball-type lenses that will collect sun light easily from every angle, virtually 360 degrees.

It takes a fairly small space and its durability is extremely long due to its simple structure. The inventor is strongly confident that it will inevitably change the existing concept of solar energy and he hopes that it will replace the nuclear power plant, which is treated more as a necessary evil.

It was no wonder that the first launch of this invention to EXCO 2012, Daegu, Korea, quickly captivated the visitors of Lee’s booth. In fact, his booth was filled with so many people that no one could pass by without asking questions on how it could be possible. His explanation was rather straightforward. “We human beings have chased the sun from the very primitive age until now because we have been trained to think that way, but the sun has been always there waiting to provide us with infinite energy.”And it is a fact that we unconsciously perceived that there was infinite resource in it when we played house with a magnifying glass to burn objects and the problem was that we could not go just one step further because of our limited imaginative power,” says the inventor. “My patent will speak for itself and the Korean government, which examined and granted me this patent, will prove it,” added Lee.