Posts Tagged ‘solar’

Here’s a handy widget to help you find government rebates and incentives for renewables and energy efficiency.

What can Henry Ford teach the solar industry?

The Oriental wasp can actually make solar electricity with the yellow and brown stripes on its back. Weird.

Renewable energy requires more than just technological innovation – it’s forcing us to look at our business models in new and creative ways.

TweetNo, it’s not the latest green transportation method. Solar Cycle 24 refers to the 24th period of solar activity and sun spots we’ve tracked since the mid 1800′s.  Now scientists are predicting it will be a relatively quiet one. Expected to peak in May of 2013, the undulating storm surge on the surface of the [...]

Tweet This is what happens when a climate scientist engages in a little DIY solar pool heating project: Since the area of each of the two collectors is about 1.5 sq. meters, this means about 800 Watts per sq. meter of heat flux was being usefully generated by the collectors. I’m guestimating that this would [...]

TweetOnce that “Save the Whales” bumper sticker wears off of your 1984 Pinto, you may want to invest in a “Free the Grid” upgrade. An electric grid is a difficult thing to manage, so its care has been traditionally left to the power companies.  The state government usually acts as overseer/dictator/blind eye, depending on where [...]

A visit to the SAS solar farm reveals both high-tech and low-tech applications of sustainable thinking.

TweetWhat do you get when you combine free 3D drawing software with free energy modeling capabilities?  Free building energy modeling, of course. Software engineers at NREL have updated their Google Sketchup plugin to integrate with the EnergyPlus modeling platform. In its simplest form, this lets architects and planners design buildings with sense of place – [...]

TweetIf you live in Duke Energy’s territory, you may be eligible for their new Solar Distributed Generation Program, approved by the utilities commission recently.  You provide the roof space, and they mount a solar panel and pay you rent.  You don’t get to use the energy, keep the carbon credits, or sell the RECs, but [...]