Every homeowner that makes the switch to solar becomes part of the solution to sustainably meeting the world’s energy needs. To ensure that your residential solar system is not only kind to the planet, but to your finances as well, avoid these seven mistakes when installing solar panels. 1. Hiring the Wrong Contractor Choosing the wrong solar contractor can lead to multiple mistakes. An awesome contractor will not only advise you about the right system to choose, where to install it and how many solar panels you’ll need, but can help with financing, incentives and other cost-cutting options. The right contractor will assess your home’s energy usage and show you how to make the system as efficient as possible. 2. Picking a Bad Location Ideally, a home solar system should be installed on a south-facing roof that ...

India has a Solar Mission to install 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022. Solar electricity is already cheaper than electricity produced with diesel generators. These optimistic figures from India, the second most populated country in the world, has led the New Scientist magazine to write an in-depth article about it saying that India’s solar power revolution could have a ripple effect across the globe. Solar panel prices fell by nearly 50 percent in 2011 and now they cost just one-quarter of what they did in 2008. This is good news for a good slice of the Indian population, one quarter of which lacks access to electricity. But electricity connection is not reliable, hence the use of diesel generators as backup power, increasing India’s share of greenhouse gases. Solar electricity has fallen to 8.78 rupees per kilowatt hour ...

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 ...

The ever-changing solar market continues to move ahead with enormous strides. While such innovations such as the new “plug ‘n’ play” solar panels are creating buzz, there are a number of other significant innovations that are helping homeowners fulfill their energy-saving goals. Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation recently introduced a material that enables the walls of buildings (and other structures) to generate electricity. Unlike solar panels or films, the energy is produced within the actual building materials, integrating them into the structure of the facility. According to the company, each square meter of the material is capable of generating about 80 watts of power, with an efficiency of 11% (most solar panels are 10% to 20% efficient). When you consider the potential for commercial and industrial applications, in particular, this technology could prove to be a significant step. …To the Top of ...

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, ...

3M is an American multinational conglomerate located in Minnesota. 3M is responsible for over 55,000 different products, including abrasives, adhesives, laminates, dental products, passive fire protection, medical products, electronic materials, car care products, optical films and electronic circuits. With operations in over 60 countries, 3M products are available in over 300 countries. Some of the more popular products include the Post-it note, Scotch Tape, Scotchgard, and Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite. 3M has been very instrumental in the clean technology industry. 1 ) 3M Creates Renewable Energy Division. In 2009, 3M announced the creation of its Renewable Energy Division. Within it, there will be two distinct divisions – energy generation and energy management. Energy generation will work toward the development of materials to be used for geothermal, solar, wind and biofuels solutions, including coatings, tapes, films, and sealants and adhesives. The ...

  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 ...

  We’ve covered Solar3D a few times in the past few months. But the company already has another interesting announcement about how its technology is supposed to recude solar production costs. Check it out:   New Design to Reduce Solar Manufacturing Costs (via http://greenbuildingelements.com) No related posts.

  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 ...