For California Homes, Clean Power From Space

In early December 2009, California Public Utilities Commission approved an ambitious project to beam solar energy from space to generate electricity starting in June 2016.

Under the terms of the contract between Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and Solaren Corporation, PG&E will buy 850 gigawatt hours (GWh) for the first year of the term, and 1,700 GWh per year over the remaining years. The cost of the electricity is competitive with land-based renewable energy sources. (more…)

Reducing Your Carbon Footprint And Your Energy Costs Are No Longer Mutually Exclusive

On February 21st 60 Minutes aired a segment called ‘The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough?’ Which did alot to fuel anticipation leading up to the press conference on February 24th. Especially since the company, Bloom Energy has been unusually secretive.

At the Wednesday morning event hosted by eBay at its Sunnyvale, California headquarters, and attended by vips such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Secretary of State Colin Powell (a board member for the maker), Bloom Energy founder K.R Sridhar unveiled from beneath a black covering – a plexiglass box of sand. (more…)

Now here is something that can be used today and not spend a kaboodle of
money to get it implemented!

GreenSmith launches Backup Battery for Grid

December 5, 2008 – Exclusive By Emma Ritch, Cleantech Group
Washington D.C.-based GreenSmith Energy Management Systems unveiled technology it says
can solve the peak demand problems of U.S. utilities.

CEO Rodney Smith said the company has designed a battery control and management system
that, when paired with lithium ion battery GreenSmith acquired from a manufacturer
overseas, can store 20 kilowatt-hours at a time and provide between 3,000 and 4,000
full-discharge cycles.

The idea is that utilities could charge the battery when it’s cheaper to produce energy,
such as in the middle of the night, and could discharge that energy onto the grid when
it’s most expensive to produce power. (more…)

The number of utilities interested in renewable power is growing and more large
scale projects are being implemented, but the wider acceptance of these technologies
is still being hampered by their intermittent nature. Improved power storage will
increase the use of electricity from solar and wind power. The result will be power
on demand instead of when the sun shines or the wind blows. And of course the faster
renewable energy sources grow the slower the increase of greenhouse gases by
replacing carbon-based fuels.

With the exception of predictable peak-load requirements, most electricity demand
is for a continuous, reliable supply. If there were some way that large amounts of
electricity from intermittent producers such as solar and wind could be stored (more…)