Self-Taught African Teen Wows M.I.T

15-Year-Old Kelvin Doe

"15-Year-Old Kelvin Doe is an engineering whiz living in Sierra Leone who scours the trash bins for spare parts, which he uses to build batteries, generators and transmitters. Completely self-taught, Kelvin has created his own radio station where he broadcasts news and plays music under the moniker, DJ Focus.

Kelvin became the youngest person in history to be invited to the "Visiting Practitioner's Program" at MIT. THNKR had exclusive access to Kelvin and his life-changing journey - experiencing the US for the first time, exploring incredible opportunities, contending with homesickness, and mapping out his future."

YouTube

Greening Energy & Reducing Costs (The Perfect Marriage) -- with Rust!

Iron Oxide (Rust)

“Using the power of the sun and ultrathin films of iron oxide (commonly known as rust), researchers at the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology, have found a novel way to split water molecules to hydrogen and oxygen. The breakthrough, published this week in the scientific journal Nature Materials, could lead to less expensive, more efficient ways to store solar energy in the form of hydrogen-based fuels. This could be a major step forward in the development of viable replacements for fossil fuels.

‘Our approach is the first of its kind,” says lead researcher, Associate Professor Avner Rothschild, of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. “We have found a way to trap light in ultrathin films of iron oxide that are 5,000 thinner than an office paper. This enables achieving high solar energy conversion efficiency and low materials and production costs.’”

NoCamels.com

Solar Companies Seek Ways to Build an Oasis of Electricity

"In the Rockaways, where nearly 14,000 customers still had no power as of Monday morning, volunteers set up a makeshift solar charging station between a car roof and a shopping cart. A multipanel, battery-tied system is helping fuel a relief center’s operations.

In the storm’s wake, solar companies have been donating equipment across New York and other stricken areas to function as emergency power systems now and backups in the longer term. It is important, executives say, to create smaller, more decentralized ways of generating and storing electricity to help ease strain on the grid in times of high demand or failure."

The New York Times

50-Acre Solar Array Planned at Sonoma County Airport

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

"What would be the largest solar energy project in Sonoma County, generating enough electricity for 10,000 homes, is being planned for vacant land at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport.

'The goal is to get renewable energy projects started here in Sonoma County and get local jobs in this arena," said Cordel Stillman, the capital projects manager for the Sonoma County Water Agency.'

In addition, the airport is planning its own solar installations to provide electricity to the administration building, terminal and runway and security lighting."

PressDemocrat.com

Electric Auto - German Style

The New York Times

The Missing Link to Renewable Energy

 "If we're going to get this country out of its current energy situation, we can't just conserve our way out; we can't just drill our way out; we can't bomb our way out. We're going to do it the old-fashioned American way, we're going to invent our way out, working together."

Donald Sadoway from MIT discusses his invention of the "Liquid Metal Battery" that would enable the economical storage of energy from solar, wind and other sources so that it could be used when homes and businesses need it.

TED Talk

Edison International & Solar Schoolhouse

"Twenty teachers from across Ventura County learned at a Saturday workshop about solar energy concepts they can bring to their classrooms to inspire students.

Funded by a $10,000 grant from Edison International to the Sustainability Council of Ventura County, the workshop was offered for teacher professional development in the area of energy and the environment. It was held at Camarillo's Conference and Educational Services Center.

The bottom line is it is about empowering students and giving them a voice and helping them to realize that with all these problems we hear about, there are solutions, and with those solutions come opportunities."

Ventura County Star

The Growing Pains of Solar Independence for Hawaiians

Diamond Head

FC Note:

What's a better problem for the consumer?  

Engineers supported by modern-day technology having to grapple with the problem of too much clean energy from an inexhaustible source -- which no one controls -- or recurring shortages from the traditional sources and their ever-increasing costs that are controlled by monopolies operating with technology that is decades old?

"As customers generate more than they need and feed the excess back into the grid for others to use, it makes managing the system much more complex. What happens when a cloud passes over and dozens of rooftop units suddenly grind to a halt? What's to be done on a sunny autumn day, when rooftop solar systems are producing way more power than the grid can use?

Hawaii finds itself pushing the envelope not just because of its abundant sunshine. A bigger driver has been the state's reliance on oil to fuel its power plants. Oil is always more expensive than natural gas, but prices shot up even higher last year when Japan's nuclear disaster sent demand, and soon prices, skyrocketing on the Asian markets where Hawaii buys its supplies.

The state has set a goal of obtaining 40% of its power from locally generated renewable sources by 2030. Already, the Big Island has jumped ahead and is producing 44% of its power from renewable sources, and it could hit 100% by the end of the decade."

Los Angeles Times

Solar Yield

Photon Test Site Aachen, Germany

"A module’s nominal power is interesting, as is its efficiency – and, depending on the customer’s expertise, so are a few other pieces of technical module data. But the single most important factor for PV system operators is yield: how many kilowatt-hours per kW of installed power flow from the PV system to the inverter? This is exactly the question PHOTON Lab intends to answer with its module field tests."

Photon Laboratory

National Solar Jobs Census 2012

"On November 14th, 2012, The Solar Foundation released its National Solar Jobs Census 2012, which found that the U.S. solar industry currently employs 119,016 Americans. This figure represents the addition of 13,872 new solar jobs and a 13.2 percent employment growth rate over the previous year. During the same period, employment in the overall economy grew at a rate of 2.3 percent* (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics), signifying that 1 in 230 jobs created nationally over the last year were created in the solar industry."

Full Report (PDF)

City of Palo Alto Goes Private For Solar

Stanford University

Palo Alto’s Utilities Advisory Commission and Finance Committee announced their unanimous approval of a 25-year contract with Brannon Solar LLC on Nov. 5. This is the city’s first solar energy contract, and the company will provide up to 52,000-megawatt-hours, 5% of the city’s electricity needs, per year for no more than $91 million for the duration of the contract.

“Palo Alto is moving to a carbon-free energy growth plan, which would be completely carbon neutral [by 2015],” Palo Alto Vice Mayor Greg Scharff said.

The efforts to provide 33 percent of Palo Alto’s energy from renewable sources by 2015 are part of a larger effort to make Palo Alto a greener city.

“We’re in the process of another RFP [Request for Proposals] for renewable energy contracts,” Cook said. “We also have ongoing energy efficiency projects, so we don’t need as much energy in the first place.”

“We have to invest as the fields go into place,” Shepherd said. “As the Utilities Commission makes these relationships, these companies…would rather work with the city of Palo Alto than places like [Pacific Gas and Electric]. They offer it to us because they know that we build up a reserve in order to go in and make these types of investments to secure our renewable energy supply, to maintain our portfolio.”

The Brannon Solar project that will provide Palo Alto’s energy is based in Fresno County. In addition to building facilities in Palo Alto, Brannon Solar’s parent company, Trina Solar, is building a total of four other solar projects in Fresno County and Sacramento County.

The Stanford Daily

Solar Instructor Training Network

"Launched in 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy established the Solar Instructor Training Network (SITN), composed of nine Regional Training Providers (RTPs) to help fulfill a critical need for high-quality, local, and accessible training in solar system design, installation, sales, and inspection through train-the-trainer programs.  The nine RTPs are well-established solar training institutions that offer expert trainers and first-class training facilities across the U.S."

U.S. Department of Energy

Parks Powered by Clean Energy

“St. Petersburg will use a $2.4 million federal grant to install solar panels at 18 of the city's parks and recreational sites, officials said Tuesday.

The project, called Sunlit City Parks, will not only save the city energy costs but also serve as an education program about solar energy.

With the city of St. Petersburg recognized in the Guinness book of world records for having the most consecutive days of sunlight, it seemed fitting that we participate in this pilot program," said Mayor Bill Foster. The program "is another example of how St. Petersburg continues to demonstrate leadership in environmentally sustainable best practices and long-term reduction in operational costs."

Tampa Bay Online

Solarize Massachusetts

“Thank to this year's Solarize Massachusetts program, which ended on November 4, more than 800 businesses and residents in 17 municipalities across the state elected to go forward with a solar energy installation, according to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC). In total, the program, which offered more financial incentives when more property owners signed up, was responsible for the installation of more than 5 megawatts of new PV capacity.”

GetSolar.com

U.S. Army Goes Solar

Fort Bliss

"Balfour Beatty Communities, LLC and SolarCity® have announced plans to provide up to 4,700 military homes with solar energy systems at Balfour Beatty-managed residential communities on Fort Bliss, Texas, and the adjacent White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico. The 13.2 megawatt project is an equipment lease arrangement, primarily financed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which directly supportsthe U.S. Army’s vision for ‘Net Zero’ energy consumption at all installations."

"The Defense Department is currently the largest energy consumer in the United States and has designated Fort Bliss a “Net Zero Installation”, meaning the Army expects the installation to produce as much energy as it uses while sending no waste to landfills and maximizing water reuse. Balfour Beatty Communities is the Army’s only military housing partner on Net Zero Installations at both Fort Bliss and Fort Carson (CO) and, with family housing responsible for close to 20% of a typical installation’s energy, waste and water footprint, it is important the company provides proactive support. The projects will also help the military meet Department of Defense goals to have 25 percent of its energy requirements met by renewable energy by 2025."

Energy Digital