Tawanai

Recently WSJ published an article on a slightly different use of solar energy – to have hot water supply in a home. As the article states, you don’t need a super hot climate and tens of thousands of dollars to go solar. In many cases, all it takes to offset two-thirds of your hot water bill is a couple of panels resembling skylights, an 80-gallon water storage tank and some shade-free southern rooftop exposure. Costs range from about US $2,000 to $10,000,

Buildings, Environment, Solar

South Africa’s power supplier Eskom Holdings Ltd. generates nearly all the nation’s electricity at some of the world’s cheapest rates. That arrangement has allowed global mining giants to extract vast amounts of gold, platinum and coal from South Africa’s earth and to keep electricity affordable for the poor.

But the state-run utility says artificially low electricity rates have left it with dangerously low generating capacity, leaving the country vulnerable to power cuts.

It is proposing raising tariffs 35% annually in each of the next three years—current and former Eskom executives warn anything less will threaten the company’s ability to provide a steady supply of electricity.

The proposal has brought a barrage of criticism from politicians and consumers, fanning concerns about inflation and imperiling the recovery of Africa’s biggest economy. On Wednesday, government regulators are set to decide on its rate-increase proposal.

Via: WSJ

Buildings, Electricity soccer, south africa

Converting to solar energy means covering a roof in unsightly solar panels. Not necessarily: Philadelphia company SRS Energy has developed the Solé Power Tile, a roof tile designed to sustainably convert sunlight into electricity without compromising aesthetics. The dark blue tiles, manufactured by SRS Energy, are jointly branded and distributed by US Tile and specifically designed to be compatible with the clay roof tiles manufactured by US Tile. Customers who purchase clay tiles will be given the option to upgrade a section of their roof to Solé Power Tiles. When installed, the system can offset a large proportion of a homeowner’s energy costs—not to mention cleaning their carbon conscience. The tiles are available in select West Coast markets this autumn, with a nationwide rollout planned for spring 2010.

SRS Energy says that the Solé tiles, made from a high-performance polymer often used in car bumpers, are lightweight, unbreakable and recyclable. Flexible solar technology by United Solar Ovonic is embedded inside each tile, allowing them to function independently of each other. Meanwhile, the performance of the system as a whole is monitored remotely by SRS Energy and US Tile. The director of engineering at SRS Energy is J.D. Albert, who also developed the electronic ink technology used in Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader.

What’s so attractive about the Solé Power Tile system he and his team have produced is that it makes it easy for consumers to make a green choice, without having to settle for a product they find unappealing. With more tile styles and colours in the pipeline, SRS Energy could soon be enjoying a big chunk of eco-bounty, as will any other company that can remove the disincentives from sustainable technology.

Website: www.srsenergy.com

Buildings, Energy, Solar

This video explains how Cisco Building Technology works.

Buildings, Clean Technology, Energy

Picture of the month for January 2010 – solar power panels on the roof of a building used by Google, the Internet giant.

Buildings, Solar

Google has asked for approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to become an electricity marketer, essentially giving it the authority to buy and sell bulk power at market prices, just the way large utilities and energy traders do. Via WSJ.

Google’s power usage is unclear; it doesn’t disclose how many data centers it operates or where each is located. Last April, it said its data centers were the most efficient in the world, so far as it was able to determine, but declined to say how much power it actually uses.

Rich Miller, editor of Data Center Knowledge, an online publication that tracks the data center industry, says he has identified about 24 Google data centers. He says it is common for large centers run by Internet companies to consume 30 to 50 megawatts of energy capacity.

Google’s largest data centers could use even more. A data center consuming 10 megawatts is about what a subdivision of single-family homes consumes. Based on an estimate of 24 large data centers, Google’s energy need would be roughly equivalent to the output of two large conventional power plants.

In 2007, Google announced its intention to become “carbon neutral,” meaning it would take actions to neutralize the effects of carbon dioxide produced in the course of furnishing its buildings and data centers with electricity. It installed a 1.6-megawatt solar array on its headquarters building and has been trying to obtain green power, when available.

If its FERC request is granted, “we could go directly to a renewable energy project and buy power for our operations,” says Google spokeswoman Niki Fenwick. The company also wants the ability to enter into contracts for carbon offsets.

Google’s FERC application could also potentially allow the company to play a much larger role in energy markets, even becoming a wholesaler of electricity to other big buyers.

In its application, the company said it was reserving for itself the right to “act as a power marketer, purchasing electricity and reselling it to wholesale customers,” and trading “in the bulk power markets, such as arranging…transmission and fuel supplies.”

Buildings, Electricity, IT, power

Buildings, Energy, Green

Over at Karachi Metroblog, Jamash writes about the blatant theft of electricity in urban Karachi. Of course, this is not just Karachi but happens all over Pakistan. Unless there’s a crackdown on these violations, we will keep suffering.

Jamash wonders why such violations are allowed to continue?

The city of lights is short of electricity, and the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) has been cutting off power every two hour or so for an hour. Even at night, before and at the time of Sehree or and Iftaar.

What so ever the reasons of this shortage of electricity may be stated by the authorities, one thing is for sure, the countless Kundas, Illegal electrical connections results in a huge power loss and those of us who pay the bills fair and square suffer and pay the cost of the theft.

These pictures of main Tariq Road, clearly show wiring bypassing the meters, these connections hooked in the main power lines are not only a clear evidence of power theft but also pose a danger of electrocution and short circuit which can further result in a fire.

I wonder why there illegal connections are not taken care of by the authorities.

Buildings, Electricity, Energy theft

American solar developer, First Solar, inked a pact with Chinese government officials to build a 2 gigawatt photovoltaic farm to go up in the Mongolian desert.

This First Solar project represents the world’s largest photovoltaic power plant project to date, and it is part of an 11.9 gigawatt renewable-energy park planned for Ordos City in Inner Mongolia. This farm should be ready to go in 2019.

The deal could open the market in China and follows the Chinese government’s wishes to accelerate development of renewable energy. First Solar is the world’s largest photovoltaic cell manufacturer,

When completed, the Ordos solar farm would generate enough electricity to power about 3 million Chinese homes, according to First Solar.

Tempe, Ariz.-based First Solar will also likely to build a factory in China to make thin-film solar panels, said Mike Ahearn, the company’s chief executive. “It represents an encouraging step forward toward the mass-scale deployment of solar power worldwide to help mitigate climate change concerns.”

Most proposed large-scale solar projects use solar thermal technology, which deploys mirrors to heat a liquid to create steam that drives an electricity-generating turbine. But as photovoltaic technology becomes more cost-competitive, utilities are turning to companies like First Solar for big solar power farms.

First Solar said the 2 gigawatt power plant would cost $5 billion to $6 billion if built in the U.S. today, but it said the cost to build such a project in China would probably be lower.

“Discussions with First Solar about building a factory in China demonstrate to investors in China that they can confidently invest in the most advanced technologies available,” said Cao Zhichen, vice mayor of Ordos Municipal Government.

First Solar’s cadmium telluride solar cells are less efficient at converting sunlight into electricity than standard crystalline silicon cells made by other companies. But the catch is First Solar can manufacture them at a significantly lower cost.

Plans for the Ordos renewable energy park call for wind farms to generate 6.9 gigawatts, photovoltaic power plants to provide 3.9 gigawatts, and solar thermal farms to supply 720 megawatts. Biomass operations, fueled by organic materials like wood chips and straw, will contribute 310 megawatts; 70 megawatts will be available from hydro storage, a load-balancing technology that uses off-peak power to pump water to a high reservoir from which it can release to turn turbines at peak demand periods.

First Solar will have to establish a supply chain to provide power inverters and other hardware needed for its part of the project as well as train Chinese contractors how to build and operate solar farms. Another hurdle is China must upgrade its transmission system to connect the solar power plant to the grid.

Buildings, Clean Technology, Energy, Infrastructure, Solar

Found this interesting presentation from IBM about their work on Smart Cities. MASDAR city, which we mentioned before as well. The pdf presentation can be downloaded from this link.

Buildings, Clean Technology, Energy, Infrastructure