In a report published by Scientific Reports, researchers say they’re successfully working toward making low-cost solar cells from plants. While, technically, all plants are some sort of solar cell (photosynthesis takes sunlight, water, and CO2 and turns it into sugar, as you may remember from high school chemistry), the key here is the word “low cost.” Photosynthesis On Your Roof The project in question is focusing on a way to produce “biophotovoltaics” without all sorts of sophisticated lab equipment. And while esoteric and possibly arcane lab equipment is all sorts of cool, it’s also rather expensive and not always workable for mass-producing items. The new system is incredibly user-friendly and costs a lot less – mix green plants (like grass clippings) with custom-designed chemicals, and out comes a photovoltaic material made with the power of photosynthesis. MIT researcher Andreas Mershin, ...

What if electricity cost more when the sun was shining? Many utilities are using new electronic “smart meters” to adjust the price of electricity as often as every hour, to reflect supply and demand.  And charging more when electricity is in short supply can be good news, increasing the value of solar by 33% or more. Time-of-use (TOU) pricing is a different billing method for electricity, where the customer pays based on the time of day of using electricity rather than a flat rate per kilowatt-hour consumed.  The premise is that electricity is more expensive when in high demand (e.g. by air conditioners in the afternoon on hot, sunny days) and that pricing accordingly will help reduce demand. For example, customers in San Francisco on a TOU pricing plan pay more for electricity during peak hours (12 PM ...

Stuffed into the envelope with the electricity bill is sometimes a little pamphlet telling you where that energy comes from. Sometimes, it’s pretty detailed; other times, not so much. But the percentage of energy coming from renewable sources often isn’t that high, and part of the reason for that is that renewable energy is generated in bursts and is then hard to store. Energy storage on a large scale would help even out the intermittent nature of renewable energy; in fact, techniques such as batteries and fuel cells are used on smaller scales right now to manage grids with high percentages of renewable sources. The problem with wide-scale use is that energy storage systems are not cheap. The Falling Cost of Technology While energy storage tech is expensive now, any consumer will note that the price of technology (whether that’s computers, ...

  Solar grid parity, when installing solar power will cost less than buying electricity from the grid, is considered the tipping point for solar power.  It’s also a tipping point in the electricity system, when millions of Americans can choose energy production and self-reliance over dependence on their electric utility. But this simple concept conceals a great deal of complexity.  And given the stakes of solar grid parity, it’s worth exploring the details. The Cost of Solar For starters, what’s the right metric for the cost of solar?  The installed cost for residential solar ($6.40 in 2011), or commercial solar ($5.20), or utility-scale solar ($3.75)?  Even if we pick one of these, it’s difficult to compare apples to apples, because grid electricity is priced in dollars per kilowatt-hour of electricity, not dollars per Watt. Enter “levelized cost,” or the cost of a ...

  Most of you reading this are already inclined toward green-type technology, whether that’s clean power generation, electric transportation, or more efficient ways to do things. Today, I’m going to give you one more reason to stop supporting – or at least vocally dislike – big gas and big oil. Yes, We’ve All Heard About This There are a number of people who will happily speak at length about dependence on foreign oil and how it leads to American troops being sent over to oil-rich hotspots to make sure we can still get affordable gas at the pump. There was a pun a while back about how Operation: Iraqi Freedom should have been called Operation: Iraqi Liberation (or O.I.L.), for example. I’m not really one of those people, but I listen when they talk. Oil is not cheap; from the ...

Renewable sources of energy provided a greater share of U.S. domestic energy production than nuclear during the first nine months of 2011, according to a new report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its latest monthly energy review, the EIA reports that renewable energy — including solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, and biomass/biofuels — provided 11.95 percent of energy production during the first three-quarters of 2011, compared with 10.62 percent from nuclear. During the same period in 2010, about 10.85 percent of domestic energy production came from renewables; in 2009, it was 10.33 percent. Among renewable sources, hydropower produced the largest contribution of total domestic energy, with 4.35 percent, followed by biomass (3.15 percent) and biofuels (2.57 percent). In the electricity sector, renewable sources provided 12.73 percent of net electrical generation in the U.S., according to the ...

 

Research into solar power is proceeding on several fronts; one of them is 3-dimensional solar technology rather than the flat solar cells that are currently prevalent. Solar3D, Inc. is the developer of that 3-dimensional solar technology. This week, they announced that simulated tests of its new solar cell design predict conversion efficiency to exceed 25%.

If the new solar cells work as expected, they would have one of – if not the – highest rates of conversion efficiency in the industry. Jim Nelson, President and CEO of Solar3D, waxed enthusiastic in an interview with Business Wire:

“We are very encouraged by these test results. We are now evaluating various methods of fabricating a prototype. If the results of our tests hold up in fabrication, as we expect, then our product’s performance will be among the very highest ...

This post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project.

While Americans transition their electricity system to the 21st century, they should ask this question: Does it make sense to pursue strategies such as accelerating the development of new high-voltage power lines that reinforce an outdated paradigm of electricity delivery, or should scarce energy dollars be spent on adding new, clean, local energy to the grid in the most cost-effective manner?

Fossil fuel power lends itself to centralized power systems, requiring long supply lines (rail or pipeline) to provide a constant supply of fuel and significant economies of scale in thermal energy production. These supply lines and huge power plants require enormous concentrations of capital, concentrating not only power generation but control of the grid. This explains the 20th century electricity system.

Renewable energy is fundamentally different. Wind, solar, and geothermal ...

Toshiba has been tapped to supply equipment for Kenya’s newest geothermal power generation project. The company will supply geothermal steam turbines and generators early next year, which will go online in April 2014. Once the new power plant is active, a quarter of Kenya’s energy supply will come from stable geothermal sources.

Kenya currently has 3 geothermal plants in the Olkaria volcanic region 60 miles northwest of Nairobi, which supply about 10% of its current electrical capacity. With equipment from Toshiba, Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Hyundai Engineering plan to bring the existing plants up to 70,000 kW each and build the Olkaria IV Geothermal Power Plant.

Stabilize That Grid!

The biggest chunk of Kenya’s current power supply comes from hydropower – nearly half, which makes it pretty green already. But as the weather is inconstant and Kenya suffers a drought, water ...

TESLA ROADSTER

If Chris Paine’s earlier movie, “Who Killed the Electric Car” (WKtEC), was about people being deprived of their vehicles and used as pawns in a struggle between government regulations and established business, then his latest film, “Revenge of the Electric Car,” is about the Kings.

The Journey For the trip to the theater, I used an electric vehicle,.. though many don’t consider how the subway’s are powered. The train was stopped two stations short of my destination for a passenger with a seizure and I decided to walk. Many can be subject to what affects one train, but is this so different than a traffic accident on a highway? The air was crisp and most New Yorkers are under-dressed for spending much time outside. Along the way, newspapers proclaimed in headlines the demise of ...