The Home Depot, in 55 stores throughout Arizona are offering residential solar panels and installation to customers. This is a clear sign that solar energy is finally coming of age. Home Depot is also offering residential solar in most stores throughout California as well. New York and New Jersey markets are expected to follow. The […]
Continue ReadingNanosolar has come up with an alternative that few other solar cell makers have. And, that is to not use the scarce supply of silicon in their solar devices. Nanosolar makes thin film solar cells that are flexible and include CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) instead of silicon. The San Jose, California based Nanosolar has […]
Continue ReadingToday, President Bush has signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. This long-awaited bill spearheaded by Representative Dan Lipinski (D-IL) passed the House 314 to 100 and includes three major parts including the Bright Energy Savings Act, the H-Prize and new CAFE standards. The Bright Energy Savings Act calls for all government offices […]
Continue ReadingMIT student cyclists are using pedal power to run computers and burn calories. Back in November of this year, MIT students were given an assignment as part of a course in civil and environmental engineering to build a device that “converts mechanical power into electrical power.” So, the students came up with an ingenious idea […]
Continue ReadingPhoenix Motorcars may just be the Next Big Thing in electric vehicles. And, these next big things will likely be produced in Mexico according to the latest reports. Last week, I talked about the promise for lithium iron phosphate batteries (LiFePO4) taking over the electric vehicle market. But, there is a different kind of lithium […]
Continue ReadingWhile there has been a lot of hoopla about hybrids of the plug-in variety from the large automakers such as Toyota, GM and Ford, there is a newly formed automaker who may just beat the other three to market. Fisker Coachbuild has teamed up with Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide to form a new company […]
Continue ReadingWhen Toyota was developing the marketing campaign for the Prius, its number one goal was to educate consumers that this was a gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle that didn’t have to be plugged in. Their thinking was that people really didn’t want to plug in their cars. This was either a miscalculation on Toyota’s part or the […]
Continue ReadingSally sells algae by the seashore. Or does she? Actually, Sally works for Shell Oil Company and will be heavily involved in farming algae on the shores of Hawaii that will in turn create biodiesel for cars and trucks. Shell has teamed up with HR Biopetroleum, Inc. in a joint venture named Cellana to grow […]
Continue ReadingIBM used to throw away up to 3 million silicon chips a year, but no more. The engineers at the Burlington, Vermont facility have found a way to scrub the ultra-pure silicon from the chips in an environmentally friendly manner and either reuse them or sell the chips to photovoltaic companies to use in solar […]
Continue ReadingLithium Iron Phophate (LiFePO4) batteries may soon take over the market for electric cars and plug-in electric vehicles. Based upon lithium ion technology, LiFePO4 batteries offer greater safety plus higher output than lithium cobalt dioxide (LiCoO2) batteries that are used commonly in laptops, mp3 players and cell phones. Developed by Dr. John Goodenough (as opposed […]
Continue Reading