Around the world, there are lots of rural households which do not have access to electricity and its implications are worrying. Upon nightfall, many families are forced to use kerosene lamps, spending approximately 25% of their weekly budgets to light them. Along with its cost, it also increases the risk of fire and causes harmful smoke. In this sense, infinite light is a simple solution providing high quality and cost effective solar lamp, to be used in rural populace. It strives to answer the needs of lighting of poverty stricken people. read more>>>
In the last two years, countries around the world have added almost as much new solar photovoltaics (PV) capacity as had been added since the invention of the solar cell. Nearly 38,000 megawatts of PV came online in 2013, a new annual record. In all, the world’s installed PV generating capacity is now close to 140,000 megawatts—enough to power each home in Germany. Falling costs and effective policies continue to drive tremendous growth in solar power.
Solar cells consist of semiconductor materials—typically crystalline silicon—that convert sunlight directly into electricity. read more>>>
May 2014 - If there ever were a client who can respect her architect’s vision, it is Carrie Schoenfeld. With an ambitious resume that includes theater production, film, painting, and invention, Schoenfeld has made a career of following creativity’s call. Yet artistic sympathy has its limits. After Schoenfeld and her husband Fiore Guglielmi had purchased a meadow in Ghent, New York, the architect they selected to design a house for the site produced renderings that promised to eviscerate their bank account. The couple started over with Studio Mapos in 2007.
Although the New York–based studio won the redo partly on its offer of a fiscal reality check, Guglielmi and Schoenfeld asked Mapos to give them the panoramic western view that its predecessor had imagined. “It was intractable,” says principal Caleb Mulvena. read more>>>
June 18, 2014 - "Investment-ready regions" are leading the way to a clean energy economy by aggressively pursuing intentional strategies for advancement, according to Clean Energy Solutions, a national organization seeking to accelerate the growth of the clean economy through a coalition of metro regions and business partners.
The clean economy is not an emerging market -- it is here now, contends Clean Energy Solutions, which seeks to connect these regional growth hubs and help them advance the clean economy through shared best practices and collaboration. They are also connecting businesses with customers and financiers for advanced and renewable energy, as well as efficient technologies for transportation, buildings, water, and recycling. read more>>>
18 June 2014 - The International Chamber of Commerce Qatar (ICC Qatar) has launched the ICC Green Economy Roadmap and the Energy and Environment Commission during a seminar it co-hosted with Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC).
More than 60 professionals and project managers gathered at the Qatar Chamber (QC) to attend the seminar entitled “ICC’s Green Economy Roadmap: Implications for Qatar.”
The seminar also discussed the ICC’s flagship guide, which helps business, policy makers and the public in the development and implementation of policies and actions towards a “green economy.” read more>>>
17 June 2014 - The periodic blackouts in Cassina Tarsia's Oceanside neighborhood meant the 71-year-old couldn't charge her cellphone or electric wheelchair.
But outages aren't a problem anymore.
Since February, Tarsia's garage has housed a suitcase-sized battery that stores power from her rooftop solar panels and the main electrical grid. In a blackout, the battery can power her home for days or even weeks.
"I think about what will happen in a big earthquake and what happened in Japan with the tsunami," said Tarsia, who paid $5,000 to get the battery installed. "I wanted to be prepared." read more>>>
June 18, 2014 - The results of a six month pilot program of an innovative public transit energy storage system (ESS) designed to transform the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) from an inefficient energy consumer into both a smart consumer and producer of energy are in. ABB partnered with smart grid technology firm Viridity Energy and Saft Battery, leading the design, supply and integration of the "Wayside Energy Storage Project" within SEPTA's aging transit infrastructure.
The initiative demonstrates how SEPTA and other transit authorities can participate in two key energy markets: frequency regulation (helping PJM maintain desired grid frequency) and economic load response (reducing consumption during peak demand when prices are high). read more>>>
June 18, 2014 - The Canadian green building market is poised to see strong growth over the next three years, with surveyed Canadian firms expecting to grow their green practices from one third in 2014, to one half by 2017. These findings are part of a new report prepared by McGraw Hill Construction and commissioned by the Canada Green Building Council. The report, titled Canada Green Building Trends: Benefits Driving the New and Retrofit Market, is the first of its kind in Canada.
Among its many findings, the report demonstrates that companies that invest in green buildings are seeing significant dividends on their investments, including: read more>>>
06/22/14 - In just two weeks Germany has managed to break three solar energy records! First the Fraunhofer ISE solar energy research institute that monitors solar output in the country noticed a rise to a record 24.24 gigawatts around midday on June 6, 2014. During the same week, solar power systems around Germany generated a total of 1.26 terawatt-hours of energy, and on the following Monday, German solar power took center stage once again by accounting for 50.6 percent of total electricity demand, which means half the total energy powering the country came from photovoltaic panels.
This news marks an amazing step forward for solar energy, but even more so because Germany receives some of the world’s least intense sunlight. read more>>>
June 20, 2014 /Nassau News Live/ — Green Power EMC, the renewable energy supplier for 38 Georgia Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs), has reached an agreement to purchase the full output of a new 20 megawatt (MW) solar project planned for construction in southeast Georgia.
The ground-mounted solar project will be constructed near Hazlehurst, Ga., in Jeff Davis County. It will be one of the largest solar generating facilities in Georgia. The solar array will occupy approximately 135 acres and will incorporate over 87,000 solar modules. Once completed, the solar array will generate more than 43,000 megawatt hours of clean, renewable electricity annually.
Under an agreement with owner-operator Silicon Ranch Corporation, Green Power EMC will receive all the energy produced by the solar project over a 25-year period. Construction is scheduled to begin this year, and the facility will be ready to produce electricity in late 2015. read more>>>
June 20 2014 - THE risk of climate change is all around us and it is quite apparent that the most vulnerable in society are bearing the brunt of this risk. Whether you speak to smallholder farmers in the rolling slopes of the Rwenzori mountains in Uganda, where rainfall has dropped by more than 20% or you speak to a township dweller in the outskirts of Cape Town, whose shack has been razed by a recent fire, the story is the same. Severe change in weather patterns is rapidly eroding their livelihoods and there are hardly enough social safety nets to help them cope.
Jun 20, 2014 - Green jobs in Vancouver increased 19% between 2010 and 2013, but more work is needed to meet ambitious City of Vancouver goals to become the “greenest city” in the world by 2020, according to a report released by the Vancouver Economic Commission June 19.
16 June 2014 - Off-grid renewable energy can expand clean, reliable and cost-effective electricity access in rural areas, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said at a conference in Manila today.
19 June 2014 - A number of solar farms in the UK will throw open their doors to members of the public on 4th July as part of Solar Independence Day, a nationwide event organised by the Solar Trade Association (STA).
16 June 2014 - The SCIGRIP Solar Boat Team has accomplished another milestone in preparation for the DONG World Cup Solar Power Challenge.
Developer advocates for green construction technology
June 18, 2014 - Silicon Valley Power (SVP), the City of Santa Clara's municipal electric utility, has earned the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) 2014 Public Power Wind Award for its innovation and creative utilization of wind power resources.
Jun. 19, 2014 - SolarCity, the nation’s largest solar power provider, plans to hire an additional 100 sales employees in the next 100 days. The company will host a “100 Jobs in 100 Days” career fair at its current Granite Bay location at 4202 Douglas Blvd., Ste. 100, on June 21—the first day of summer—at 9 a.m.
Jun. 12, 2014 - The Obama administration's emphasis on the public health benefits of its first-ever greenhouse gas emissions standards for existing power plants may help make climate change resonate with more Americans—which could build support for the controversial rule.
Energy efficiency is a major concern for modern cities, and continually pumping our vehicles with finite fossil fuels is clearly not the answer. To offer a more environmentally conscious solution, designer Hakan Gürsu of Designnobis has proposed Solar Taxis, eco-vehicles powered by clean energy for urban use. Topped by solar panels, the Solar Taxi is surrounded by a transparent outer shell that’s rugged enough for tough roads. The spacious design would also offer enough room to accommodate physically disabled passengers. The Solar Taxi design won the 2013 – 2014 A’ Design Award Winner in the Vehicle, Mobility and Transportation Design Category.