Archive for January, 2008
Fat Spaniel Technologies - Monitoring for Renewable Energy Systems
On January 29, 2008 in Uncategorized
Fat Spaniel Technologies has an online monitoring and reporting service for renewable energy systems.
This is really cool. They have a huge list of sites that are monitored, and you can expand each one to get more details.
Each site listed has a “simple” and “detail” view.
The “Simple” interface shows how many watts are being generated currently, how many kWh have been produced total, and the amount of CO2 that was not released into the atmosphere as a result of home energy production. On this page the Irradiance, cell temperature, and ambient temperature are displayed, as well. There is also a neat little animation that shows power either being pushed onto the grid, or pulled from it depending on what is happening currently.
Also shown is a historical graph that can be changed to show today, this week, this month, or the lifetime of the system. There is also a link to the local weather, and the renewable energy system size is stated in kilowatts.
If the interface is switched to “Detail,” one can view graphs showing the energy, power, voltage, and current produced over time.
This is an excellent resource for real world data, and even combines commercial and residential structures. Thanks to SomethingAwful forums poster GreenTrench for the link. There is even a page with Renewable Energy Case Studies for your reading pleasure.
“The Power of The Sun”
On January 24, 2008 in Uncategorized
My physics professor let us watch most of a movie called “The Power of The Sun” yesterday in class. I found the website for the movie at the Univerity of California, Santa Barbara’s homepage. It seems the movie is intended for educational use, but nobody said you had to be in school to learn things.
Here are some interesting things I managed to jot down in the dark while watching:
- The amount of solar energy that hits earth in 1 hour could meet our electricity needs for 1 year.
- The first “Solar Battery” from Bell Labs produced around 0.1watt in full sun. The technology almost died out until Bell used them to power remote telephone lines in Georgia experimentally.
- In 1957 Sputnik launched but stopped transmitting within a few weeks due to drained batteries.
- NASA took their info about Sputnik and Bell Labs and decided to power space equipment with the sun.
- Nearly every cell phone call passes through solar powered equipment
- 99% of United States Coast Guard navigational aids (lighthouses, buoys) are solar powered
- Solar LED landing lights are used in remote airports allowing easier setup and significant savings
- Shell Solar has a 1MegaWatt photovoltaic station powering water pumps near Bakersfield, CA
- Japan’s lack of natural resources led to large investment in solar energy technology
- Many ‘traditional’ Japanese homes are now powered by the sun
- Apartment blocks and factories in Japan and Germany are sprouting large solar arrays
- In 1994 the Japanese government started subsidizing PV systems, resulting in them being almost economically viable at this point
- The SunPower president predicts the US will be importing solar cells in the near future like we do oil now
- There are more than 100,000 solar installations in Germany
- Powerlight Corporation makes roofing panels that are insulation on the bottom and PV cells on top
- Shell Solar is producing PV cells at $3/watt
- New Jersey is offering a great deal of incentives to residents installing solar systems
- Marborg Industries is a 70 year old family owned recycling company in California that is moving to solar power
- Two Billion people worldwide have no electricity
- “Light Up The World” is an organization providing solar cells, batteries, and LED lights to 3rd world countries
- Solar panels are used to keep vaccines cool in East Africa. The movie shows a camel with a box strapped to its back. The cover of the box has PV panels mounted on it.
Here is a link to an article about the Solar Powered Camel Refridgerator
If you get a chance, watch this movie, it is very informative (and that is based on the first 45 minutes or so.)
Researchers Make a Substance That Absorbs 99.9% of Light
On January 18, 2008 in Uncategorized
Here is a win for us solar heating folks
From News.com.au :
“Black is the new black in science
January 16, 2008 10:40am
Made from tiny tubes of carbon standing on end, this material is almost 30 times darker than a carbon substance used by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology as the current benchmark of blackness.
And the material is close to the long-sought ideal black, which could absorb all colours of light and reflect none.
“All the light that goes in is basically absorbed,” said Pulickel Ajayan, who led the research team at Rice University in Houston.
“It is almost pushing the limit of how much light can be absorbed into one material.”
The substance has a total reflective index of 0.045 per cent - which is more than three times darker than the nickel-phosphorous alloy that now holds the record as the world’s darkest material.
Basic black paint, by comparison, has a reflective index of 5 per cent to 10 per cent.
The researchers are seeking a world’s darkest material designation by Guinness World Records.
But their work is likely to yield more than just bragging rights.
Mr Ajayan said the material could be used in solar energy conversion.
“You could think of a material that basically collects all the light that falls into it,” he said.
t could also could be used in infrared detection or astronomical observation.
Mr Ajayan, who worked with a team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, said the material got its blackness from three things.
It is composed of carbon nano-tubes, tiny tubes of tightly rolled carbon that are 400 hundred times smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair. The carbon helps absorb some of the light.
These tubes are standing on end, much like a patch of grass. This arrangement traps light in the tiny gaps between the “blades”.
The researchers have also made the surface of this carbon nano-tube carpet irregular and rough to cut down on reflectivity.
“Such a nano-tube array not only reflects light weakly, but also absorbs light strongly,” said Shawn-Yu Lin, a professor of physics at Rensselaer, who helped make the substance.
The researchers have tested the material on visible light only. Now they want to see how it fares against infrared and ultraviolet light, and other wavelengths such as radiation used in communications systems.
“If you could make materials that would block these radiations, it could have serious applications for stealth and defence,” Mr Ajayan said.
The work was released online last week and will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Nano Letters.
Indian-born Mr Ajayan holds the 2006 Guinness World Record as co-inventor of the smallest brush in the world.”
If this were released to the public we could have some seriously efficienct solar collectors. Way to go, Mr. Ajayan!
Solar Stocks Regaining Losses
On January 17, 2008 in Uncategorized
Just found another one for all of you solar investment buffs;
Forbes has an article up today about solar stocks regaining losses
“Sector Snap: Solar Stocks Regain Losses
Associated Press 01.17.08, 2:01 PM ET
NEW YORK -
Investors sent solar-power stocks higher on Thursday, seeing the recent sell-off as a buying opportunity for major players.
Many solar shares have suffered because of economic concerns affecting the overall market, the recent energy bill passage without added solar incentives, and lower oil prices. In theory, higher costs for fossil fuels make alternative energy a more viable option.
Despite the recent decline, several analysts have reiterated a view that sector dips are not an indication of long-term weakness for the solar-power market.
“While we see demand hiccups ahead for the solar industry, we expect them to be short lived as the industry will stimulate elastic demand through lower prices,” Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Jeff Osborne wrote in a note Thursday.
He named MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (nyse: WFR - news - people ) and Suntech Power Holdings Co. (nyse: STP - news - people ) as favorites. Osborne said MEMC offers an attractive share price and solid cash flow, while Suntech is an “industry heavyweight” that is set to post better gross margins.
MEMC shares rose 84 cents to $65.50 as Suntech shares gained $1.65, or 2.9 percent, to $58.10.
Cowen and Co. analyst Rob Stone said the recent sell-off was spurred by overall economic concerns and fears of solar-panel oversupply. He expects supply to “remain tight” at least into 2009, with improved costs leading to equality with traditional energy sources such as electricity.
“Some challenging transitional quarters along the way are inevitable, which the top tier players, and those with vertical or virtual integration should be best prepared to handle,” Stone said in a note Thursday.
Banc of America Securities analyst Eric Brown, who is generally cautious on renewable-energy stocks, reiterated a “Buy” rating on JA Solar Holdings Co. shares Thursday following the company’s report of a polysilicon supply deal. JA Solar said M.Setek Co. has agreed to provide it with an additional 458 metric tons (505 tons) of polysilicon this year.
The agreement will “provide a cushion” to its 2008 supplies in case another provider falls through, or enable it to raise production targets, Brown said.
JA Solar shares rose $2.53, or 4.2 percent, to $63.35. Other gains were posted by LDK Solar Co. (nyse: LDK - news - people ), which rose $2.64, or 7.7 percent, to $37.09; Canadian Solar Inc. (nasdaq: CSIQ - news - people ), which rose 86 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $18.76; and Trina Solar Ltd. (nyse: TSL - news - people ), which rose 90 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $38.19.”
