Renewable-Energy

HUGE Solar Roof

- Adam Clare

PGIGrup is about to make Europe’s largest solar roof. The building is going to be built in Madrid and generate 3 megawatts of electricity.

At over a kilometer in length, the rooftop will have an area of over 57,000 square meters, of which 21,000 will be occupied by solar panels. The power installed will be of approximately 3 MW peak, which will generate over 3.6 GWh per year.

It is predicted that this design will enable it to save 15% on climate conditioning in winter, and 34% in summer, as well as saving on lighting. The facade of the office blocks is a double skin, where the external glass is hung out from staggered glass fins.

Ontario Goes Solar

- Adam Clare

After recently banning old light bulbs, the province of Ontario has permitted a Californian company permission to build a rather large solar power facility.

The Ontario government has approved a California company’s plan to build North America’s largest photovoltaic solar farm, the provincial energy ministry announced Thursday.

OptiSolar Farms Canada Inc. of Arthur, Ont. — a subsidiary of California-based OptiSolar Inc. — will install more than one million solar panels at four farms outside Sarnia, Ont., providing the province with 40 megawatts of power by 2010. Ontario Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said that’s enough to power 6,000 homes.

Net Metering in the USA

- Adam Clare

Net metering is a novel concept that allows property owners who produce their own energy to sell surplus power back to the electric grid. There are many, many, many reason why this should be adopted and the International Business Times looks at people are selling energy back to the grid not for profit, but for philosophical reasons. The profit must help the decisions though.

“Net metering essentially allows people to become mini-power producers. Programs vary state to state, but they are typically coupled with financial incentives that make it easier to invest thousands of dollars for photovoltaic panels, windmills or fuel cells. Since sun and wind are intermittent, customers still rely on the grid for steady service. The meter runs backward when more energy is produced than a customer consumes.”

Mine Heat for Energy

- Adam Clare

MIT researchers have come to the conclusion that geothermal energy is a good thing! They figure that a “significant” amount of energy that the USA uses can be produced using the earth has power.

“The goal of the study was to assess the feasibility, potential environmental impacts and economic viability of using enhanced geothermal system (EGS) technology to greatly increase the fraction of the U.S. geothermal resource that could be recovered commercially.”

VENTURI ECLECTIC Vehicle Powers Itself

- Adam Clare

This car is entirely powered by renewable energy. The Eclectic uses solar power, wind power, and regenerative energy from braking. It is “the first autonomous vehicle in the history of the automobile.” Awesome!

Inhabitant has some pics and a short article:
“Eclectic produces energy from sources that already surround us, combining 2.5 square meters of photovoltaic cells, one or more wind turbines, and NiMH (NIV-7) batteries. Intended for driving in urban areas, it offers a range up to 50 km at a speed of 50 km/h (electronically restricted), while continually producing and storing energy, even when not in us”

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