Category: Solar PhotoVoltaics

24 Hour Solar System

By combining a concentrated solar power system with a molten salt heat storage system, the researchers from the Massachusetts Institute, have discovered how to deliver low cost solar energy at night as well as during the day.

As you know concentrated solar and salt storage are two familiar technologies.

The researchers are focusing their system on bringing down installation, operating and maintenance costs.

This concept could help small towns and communities take themselves off the grid with a reliable, steady stream of clean energy.

Concentrated solar power means using mirrors to focus sunlight on a central tower and when is combined with molten salt in the conventional manner, the salt will be heat with solar energy, then the energy will be transferred to the water which generates steam that turns a turbine to produce electricity.

A NASA spacecraft will fly to Jupiter using solar power

NASA’s new mission to Jupiter will be undertaken by a windmill-shaped spacecraft.

The spacecraft will be powered almost entirely by solar power.

Named Juno, the spacecraft will have 2 billion mile journey ahead.

The Juno explorer will be the most distant probe ever powered by the sun.

The spacecraft is outfitted with three huge solar panels and is scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Centre in the US state of Florida on Friday morning.

An unmanned Atlas V rocket will carry her into space.

Scott Bolton, Juno’s principal investigator, said the mission, coming just two weeks after the final flight of the manned space shuttle, shows that NASA is not fading into oblivion.

It will take Juno five years to reach its target, five times farther from the sun than Earth. No spacecraft has ever ventured so far, powered by solar wings.

The European Union’s solar-powered, comet-chasing Rosetta probe made it as far as the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

The three wings of Juno are 29 feet long and 9 feet wide, necessary given that Jupiter receives 25 percent less sunlight than Earth.

Juno’s panels will provide 400 watts of power. In orbit around Earth, these panels could generate 35 times as much power.

NASA is preparing a new solar mission next month – the Grail mission during which two spacecraft will be fly to the moon – will also be solar powered.

An amazing solar tower in Arizona will power 150.000 homes

EnviroMission has decided to set up a solar tower with huge dimensions in the desert of Arizona.

The tower will instantly become one of the world’s tallest buildings because it measure some 2625 ft in height and 130 meters in diameter.

The structure will produce 200MW electricity, enough to power 150,000 US homes.

This project would also be a good money eater, costing a sensational US$750 million to the participants.

Arizona being a desert has an air temperature as high as 40 degrees Celsius.

As we know that air rises up making space for a cooler gush, the heated air at the bottom of the tower would rise up and the temperature at the ground level can be raised to 80 – 90 degrees.

Turbines would be integrated into the system such that when the hot air makes its upward move, it rotates the turbines and electricity is generated.

The temperature will be greater between the layers of air if the tower is planned tall and more energy would be generated.

No continuous raw feed would be required to keep the system working. Nature would take that responsibility.

This arrangement can be expected to keep working for 80 years without any maintenance need.

Spanish solar market is rising

The statistics for the PV market for 2010 released by the Spanish photovoltaic association ASIF, according to which the Spanish PV industry is moving strongly into the international market.

Thanks to the changes in the Spanish solar energy promotion policies and because a yearly cap of 500 MW was set, the international sales in 2010 increased by 130% compared to the previous year.

The total capacity of Spanish PV production was 1.000 MW in 2010, of this, 70% was exported and only 30% installed locally.

In Spain itself, 392 MW of new photovoltaic systems were installed, of which a good 60% were locally produced.

2009 was a bad year for Spanish market because subsidies were massively cut and the sales in Spain only reached 17 MW.

However, a large portion of the projects completed in 2010 were actually old projects, the completion of which was delayed by the crisis of the year before.

The ASIF predicts that Spanish solar market will increase more in the coming years, and expects only 300 MW of new capacity to be installed in 2013.

A solar-powered superyacht is available for charter in the Mediterranean

Arcadia 85, the super-yacht built with solar panels is offering charter holidays in the Mediterranean, during the summer of 2011.

The solar-powered yacht was named ‘Solar’ and from €49,000 (about $70,371) per week, up to eight people can feel confident about their carbon footprint, without losing out on luxury.

This yacht has the lowest fuel emission of any yacht in its class because it has an economical speed of 9 knots, when the diesel engines use only 30 liters per hour.

Solar’s panels run the hotel load, which it means everything from air conditioning to lighting, plus pumps and refrigeration.

The Solar yacht was built by  Edmiston & Company, it boasts a deck of 60 square meters and has  four cabins that have all necessary audio visuals, a spacious saloon in the top deck which is the entertainment area and sitting place and a huge saloon.

The super-yacht reaches a top speed of 18 knots propelled by a fuel that is organic in nature.

Also, on the yacht is a delicious cuisine where the chef uses only organic ingredients.

This is the perfect green-way to relax on your holiday.

A solar-powered superyacht is available for charter in the Mediterranean

Arcadia 85, the super-yacht built with solar panels is offering charter holidays in the Mediterranean, during the summer of 2011.

The solar-powered yacht was named ‘Solar’ and from €49,000 (about $70,371) per week, up to eight people can feel confident about their carbon footprint, without losing out on luxury.

This yacht has the lowest fuel emission of any yacht in its class because it has an economical speed of 9 knots, when the diesel engines use only 30 liters per hour.

Solar’s panels run the hotel load, which it means everything from air conditioning to lighting, plus pumps and refrigeration.

The Solar yacht was built by  Edmiston & Company, it boasts a deck of 60 square meters and has  four cabins that have all necessary audio visuals, a spacious saloon in the top deck which is the entertainment area and sitting place and a huge saloon.

The super-yacht reaches a top speed of 18 knots propelled by a fuel that is organic in nature.

Also, on the yacht is a delicious cuisine where the chef uses only organic ingredients.

This is the perfect green-way to relax on your holiday.

The Army plans to install microgrids in Afghanistan

To reduce its energy the Army plans to install microgrids in Afghanistan.

The Army said earlier this week that they will deploy a system designed to use fuel more efficiency and pave the way solar and wind power in the field.

Now, the Army uses diesel generators to power its bases which have a significant financial and military cost as fuel convoys are often targets for attack.

The Army plans to save fuel with the new microgrids.

The microgrid bases will be formed from four generators able to produce one megawatt.

The microgrids will include controls to integrate power generated from solar panels and storage systems.

“They’re being designed so that a soldier can just hook them up any way and plug things in and not have to worry about doing prior analysis of how the power grid should be laid out or what load should be placed where,” said Chris Wildman, the Hybrid Intelligent Power program lead, in a statement.

The strategy of U.S Army is to minimize the amount money spent on fuel, using solar panels for diesel generators and portable solar panels for soldiers on patrol.

SolAir – a new hybrid wind/solar power generator

This new invention named SolAir is a small wind turbine combined with solar panels.

Each device has three rotating blades, a 64 radius, and weighs approximately 60 lbs.

A solar panel 40 square inches in size is integrated into the micro wind turbines.

These SolAir’s are getting quite popular in San Diego, because they can generate power in winds anywhere from 6 mph to 60 mph.

SolAirs are often installed along the roof line of residential or commercial buildings, but they can be used in a variety of locations.

SolAir product is ideal for many parts of the country because the small wind feature combined with solar panels allows for electricity generation on sunny days with little wind or windy days with/without sun.

State incentives and federal income tax credits can reportedly cover up to 50-70% of the total cost of the micro clean energy system.

SolAir ha a quick process of install and once installed you start saving money on your electric bill.

Solar powered ATM

If you thought banknotes will be the greenest thing of an ATM, you were wrong.

Expert Group, Inc. announced that it will deploy In Miami the first solar-powered ATM.

The ATMs will be installed throughout Miami in high traffic outdoor areas, said Robert Rico, Chairmen of Expert Financing, Inc.

The ATMs will use solar energy because they are powered by solar panels installed on the top of the ATM.

Part of the collected energy is stored in the power controller for the ATM’s night operation.

The company plans to set up about a 100 of these green ATM machines in Miami soon.

Water your garden automatically using solar panels

Your garden will not be thirsty of water when you’re gone.

A new concept for gardens, the Garden Sitter, is a solar powered system, programmable rain barrel irrigation system that is capable of watering a garden for months together, without any sort of human intervention.

The system was designed by Gary Lee of Edenton, North Carolina.

Gary Lee designed his very own solar rainwater harvesting irrigation system, then he turn around and makes it available to the public.

The system is powered by solar energy, which makes it more acceptable among the increasingly environment conscious population.

The system is equipped with a North Carolina Cypress box which contains 5 watt solar panel. It also has a 7 amp charge controller and battery. The LED lights attached to it, sum up the status of charging.

You can set the time according to your convenience and shoo off the nightmare of a destroyed garden.

The construction of the system, it consists of twin barrels and has a holding capacity of 2600 gallons.

It can be used throughout the growing season and is expected to save an estimated 5000 gallons.

This is a magnificent invention because uses a renewable source of energy to function and the other that Garden Sitter is save water, a bare necessity that is becoming increasingly expensive around the world.