Solar reflecting mirrors that currently power the village. The heat creates hot air which rises in the tower to spin a turbine which then generates electricity.
A new firm called Torresol Energy is planning on building two of these a year with a goal of generating 320 megawatts over the next 5 years and 1,000 megawatts in 10 years.
Add comment March 13th, 2008 Alex
I found this article pretty interesting. It seems like California will be shorthanded when it comes to green-collar jobs according to corporate and government leaders at a summit on Monday. As we continue to implement solar panels and renewable energy, there does not seem to be enough people doing the actual installation of the panels and workers to implement those systems. California schools will soon have more programs that will cater to this industry such as the PowerPathway program that guarantees graduates a job afterwards. It is good news for providing jobs in this state and will probably encourage more people to come to California. The alternative energy industry has been creating a lot of buzz as plenty of companies are growing or starting up in the bay area and it looks like things will continue getting better. Hopefully the stock market will pick up soon as many fear a recession is happening. Being election year, things will surely turn around as the year continues.
Add comment January 15th, 2008 Alex
Nanosolar Inc has begun selling the world’s lowest cost solar panels for about a dollar per watt. The company got early stage financing from Google and uses a technology that only requires a fraction of the amount of silicon needed for regular solar cells. One of the reasons solar panels are not that common is because of its cost. This could be an impressive breakthrough that will finally allow more solar panels to be installed all over the world. Nanosolar is based in San Jose, CA and develops cost-efficient 100x thinner solar cells in mass quantities at a faster rate.
via Reuters
Add comment December 18th, 2007 Alex
Although all the christmas lights and decorations are very pretty during the holidays, it is a uneccessary asthetic use of electricity. Well, now you don’t have to feel bad about it anymore with solar christmas lights! There is a website called Solarsanta.com that sells solar holiday lighting. A set of 4-100 red, white, and blue lights costs $99.99. A set of 104 red, white, or blue LED solar string lights start at $79.99. They come with a heavy-duty rechargeable 6v battery that recharges with sunlight. It is also great because you do not need to worry about finding a power outlet or setting up a timer to have it turn on and off at a certain time. It automatically turns on at night and a day of charging will power it for the whole night. Obviously they are a little pricey compared to your normal $.99-$9.99 set but at least you can feel good about not wasting electricity. Maybe after 30 years or something, you can make it back up in the electricity costs that you save! Of course, if money is no issue, it really is a cool alternative to show that you care about the environment. Maybe I should request for a free sample to test out how good they work.
Add comment December 12th, 2007 Alex
The City Council of Berkeley will be voting on November 6th on a plan for the city to help finance the installation of solar panels for property owners. The owners would pay back the costs over a 20 year period. It sounds like a pretty good plan and it will be nice to see the city of Berkeley take an initiative to promote being green to the city. The cost of installing a solar panel can cost at least $15,000 and many people do not have the money to pay for the installation up front. The solar panel installation would be paid for by the city and the property owner will get an extra tax bill to pay off the system. As a result, the property owner would be saving on his/her electricity bill every month and the tax cost would be about the same as the savings.
What sucks about this however, is that if the owner sold the property, the tax would still stay with that owner even though the solar panel stays with the property. So in other words, if a property owner were to go through with this deal, they should plan on living in that same house for 20 years! I guess technically, if you were to get your own loan for a solar panel installation, it would work the same way. This is a big step towards making the city a more responsible and eco friendly place and hopefully the plan will pass.
via SFGate
Add comment October 25th, 2007 Alex