MAKING LIGHT WITH RECYCLED PLASTIC BOTTLES

How It Works?

The plastic bottle is filled with only water and bleach. The liquid inside the bottle harnesses the light from the sun, capturing and diffracting the light to all parts of the room. It is equivalent to a 55 watt light bulb.

What's the Technology?

It consists of a 1.5l PET bottle filled with purified water and bleach (10 ml). A special glue is used to bond and seal the bottle to the roof. Adding the bleach to the water makes sure that the water stays clean and transparent without algae growing inside and turning the water green..

Source by: http://www.literoflightswitzerland.org/idea.php?l=en

‘Railway Solar’ May Be a Sweet Spot for Green Transportation

With climate considerations becoming more important in infrastructure development, train travel and other alternatives to petroleum-powered cars have a renewed relevance.

Trains are far more efficient and less polluting than most cars. In research for my new company focused on providing solar power to electric trains, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at learning how efficient this transportation mode can really be.

Electric trains are 50 percent to 75 percent less polluting than single-passenger cars and trucks and use comparably less energy per passenger-mile, according to a 2009 detailed analysis by Chester and Horvath.

The emissions profile depends a lot, of course, on the grid mix of electricity. Some grids, like in California, the Pacific Northwest and New England, are fairly clean already due to a mix of hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal, nuclear and natural gas.

And over time, these grids are becoming cleaner. California, for example, now has a 50 percent mandate for renewable electricity by 2030. Regular cars are also becoming cleaner due to market forces and increasing fuel-efficiency requirements (CAFE) at the federal level, so the ratios may change a bit with time.

FIGURE 1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Various Transportation Modes

Source: Chester and Horvath, 2009
I’ve written previously about the problem posed by China and other developing nations wanting to join the Western model of widespread individual car ownership. Car ownership per capita in China, for example, is one-eighth what it is in the U.S. and far less than that in India.

Even if all of the billions of new cars in the world in the coming decades are electric vehicles and are relatively low-polluting, there will still be many issues relating to resource constraints and congestion, as well as higher-than-necessary emissions from what is inherently a less-efficient transportation mode than mass transit.

One readily available alternative to the private vehicle ownership model is to make public transportation so good that people will choose to take a train rather than drive, or to forgo private car ownership even if they could afford one or more of their own cars. This model is becoming a reality with the rapid growth of electric-train systems around the world, particularly in Asia.

For example, Chinese electric train systems have more than doubled in size over the last decade and are now at almost 70,000 miles of track, by far the biggest in the world. India is in second place, with about 40,000 miles of track and growing.

Electric trains are a type of electric vehicle (EV). This may seem to be an obvious point, but the discussion of EVs here at GTM and elsewhere rarely includes electric trains under this rubric. I’ve been guilty of this omission myself despite my longstanding love of trains, electric or otherwise. As EVs, electric trains can be more or less polluting based on the grid mix from which they draw power, as with EVs more generally.

My recent article rebutting a working paper on the environmental impacts of EVs highlighted the fact that the location of EVs matters a lot. If the EV at issue is powered entirely with local renewable energy, the whole system is almost emissions-free: the true sweet spot for global transportation.

For a personal EV, solar on home rooftops can power most families’ car travel needs. The equivalent for electric trains is what I call “railway solar”: putting solar on train station rooftops, parking lots and on solar canopies over or adjacent to the train tracks themselves.

Electric trains are so efficient that a single 300-watt solar panel (about 4x6 feet) can provide up to 7,000 miles of an individual’s commuting miles per year, or 5 to 20 miles per day. The national average, based on National Transportation Database data on the efficiency of the various U.S. electric train systems, is about 4,000 miles per year for each 300-watt solar panel. One mile of train tracks can support 1 megawatts to 3 megawatts of solar panels, which can provide 2 million and 6 million passenger-miles of train travel. Yes, million.

The passenger-miles provided by solar or other renewables is practically emissions-free, even if we include the energy costs required to manufacture and ship the panels.

FIGURE 2: Miles of Daily Train Travel per 300-Watt Solar Panel

Source: NTD data and NREL insolation data

These numbers highlight just how efficient electric trains can be. The equivalent miles from one 300-watt solar panel for a regular electric car -- my tiny Fiat 500e, for example -- would be just 1,600 miles per year, or about 40 percent of the national average for U.S. electric trains. So electric trains are about 2.5 times more efficient than most personal EVs, which are in turn about 2.5 to 3 times more efficient than a highly efficient internal-combustion engine.

Here's another way of looking at it: my Fiat could carry the equivalent of about one 300-watt panel on its upper surface, which would provide just 4.5 miles per day of driving, or 1,643 miles per year. That same panel would provide on average 4,000 passenger-miles per year. There is enough space in the existing rail infrastructure -- on train stations and near train tracks -- for enough solar panels to provide all of the electric train’s power demand.

These numbers translate to the ability to supply a majority or even all of U.S. electric train systems from solar power. For example, Chicago’s Metra Electric line (one of the busiest metro systems in the country) is 31 miles in length. If just 18 of those 31 miles were covered in solar at 1 megawatt per mile, these panels, taking into account the solar radiation in the Chicago area, could supply 100 percent of that line’s electric needs each year.

Other renewables

Wind power is another obvious option for powering electric trains with on-site renewables -- where there are strong wind resources. Distributed wind has not taken off in the U.S. anywhere near to the degree that distributed solar has, but it could be a viable option in many circumstances, particularly where there are state rebates to offset the cost of wind turbines. Wind power in desirable locations is still cheaper than power from solar panels, and can also complement solar power by producing power at night.

Biomass power is also somewhat modular, but highly dependent on feedstock. Dairy gas in California’s Central Valley, for example, could supply a significant amount of the electricity demand for the planned high-speed rail project.

Challenges facing electric trains

Nothing is perfect, and electric trains do have some downsides. We’ve seen many of these downsides highlighted in the debate over the California High-Speed Rail project, which is now under construction after years of delays.

High-speed trains are almost always electric because of the power and efficiency that electric trains offer. A notable exception to this rule can be found with the proposed coastal portion of the California HSR. Due to aesthetic concerns over the catenary lines of electric high-speed trains, the current plan is to make this portion, eventually going through my hometown of Santa Barbara, traditional diesel rather than electric.

Train tracks can require a lot of land, and there are certainly areas where people are hostile to giving up land for new trains, even with fair market compensation. This is partly why the costs of California’s high-speed train have ballooned from initial estimates: the cost of acquiring land for new trains, and the legal battles that follow, can be prohibitive. This is not a problem, however, when we’re dealing with existing train systems, since those battles have been fought and resolved. Efforts to solarize train systems should focus on existing rail rather than new rail systems.

Trains can be noisy, particularly high-speed trains, because they are traveling at such high speeds (upward of 200 miles an hour in many cases). One cool feature of solar canopies over train tracks, however, is that they can include noise-reduction features by enclosing one or both sides of the train with transparent glass. Even better, a number of companies are now working on very thin solar films that coat glass and can actually produce power while still allowing all visible light to go through. In such a case, noise-reduction glass could increase solar power production further, but with additional cost.

Speaking of cost, railway solar canopies will require increased costs in terms of additional support structure and engineering that is specific to the electric-train market. Solar carports are pretty comparable, but they are not as tall and don’t need to be as robust as railway solar canopies. We can expect, however, that the larger scales made possible with railway solar canopies (1 megawatts to 3 megawatts per mile of track) could cut back much of the increased cost of structural support and engineering due to economies of scale.

Is the future going to include significant amounts of solarized electric trains? Given current trends for solar panel prices and the dramatic growth of electric trains around the world, it does seem likely, purely from an economic point of view. When we add in the environmental and other benefits from solarizing electric trains, it becomes even more likely.

My last column looked at the potential for the hyperloop concept championed by Elon Musk and others inspired by his vision. I concluded that the concept has tremendous promise but that the cost of actual projects is a challenging factor. We’ll have to wait and see how real-world costs pan out as actual hyperloop projects start to get built.

Railway solar has very wide applicability even if hyperloops catch on. This is the case because hyperloops are by their nature appropriate for longer distance travel rather than commuter or light rail lines, which are the sweet spot for solar trains. Long-distance high-speed rail can and should be solarized, but if hyperloops end up displacing planned and/or actual high-speed trains, then solarized hyperloops ensure that renewables still power our transportation future.

My preferred future looks something like this: a network of solar-powered hyperloops connecting cities around the world; solar-powered commuter and light rail in each of those cities; and self-driving electric cars, ferrying people to and from train stations and hyperloop stops.

And, of course, those electric cars will also be powered primarily from solar and other renewables, either on peoples’ homes or from the ultra-clean power grid of the future.

Source by: https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/railway-solar-may-be-a-sweet-spot-for-green-transportation

Solar Energy

With the price of non-renewable energy sources soaring, Kidzworld takes a look at the environmentally friendly energy source we all know and love - our sun! Get the goods on solar energy right here!

How It Works

Solar energy is the energy we acquire from the sun. Millions of years before humans realized the sun's potential as a renewable energy source, plants were using the sun's energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars to eat. This process is called photosynthesis. Today, we have tried to copy plants by creating something called photovoltaic (PV) cells. These man-made cells are comprised of semiconductors, which are materials that are able to absorb light energy. The most commonly used semiconductor today is silicon because it is, so far, the most cost-effective material. The silicon absorbs a portion of the energy from the light that shines down on it, electrons are suddenly knocked free and are channeled to flow in the same direction by electric fields within the PV cell. On both the top and bottom of the silicon, metal contacts are placed and, through these contacts, the solar energy is extracted and stored.

Practical Uses

Solar energy is used for a variety of different things but the ones that you are most familiar with are solar-powered calculators, solar-heated swimming pools and maybe even the hot water in your house is heated by solar panels. Because solar energy is clean and renewable, it would be ideal to make a move from non-renewable heating sources like gas to solar on a grander scale, so research is ongoing to make solar energy a more cost-effective alternative for people around the world.

Did U Know?

*Solar energy is measured in kilowatt-hours. One kilowatt hour (kWh) is the amount of energy              needed to burn a 100 watt light bulb for 10 hours.

*Enough sunlight falls to Earth every hour to meet the world's energy demands for an entire year -        the trick is learning how to extract that energy in a cost-effective way.

*Approximately 10,000 homes in the United States are run entirely on solar power.
*Solar energy can even be used to cook food!

Source by: http://www.kidzworld.com/article/1288-solar-energy

Apple Reveals Solar Energy Programs To Clean Up Its Manufacturing Partners In China

Apple has plunged billions of dollars into making its global operations more efficient with renewable energy. The bulk of that push, which has won praise from Greenpeace, has come in the U.S. and Europe, but today Apple unveiled a suite of initiatives designed to make its business in China — the country where its revenue is positively booming — greener, too.

Timed in conjunction with CEO Tim Cook’s visit to the country, the U.S. company revealed that it will work with its manufacturing partners in China to help them “become more energy efficient and to use clean energy for their manufacturing operations.” Apple further explained that it is working with said suppliers, which include Foxconn, to add more than two gigawatts of ‘clean’ energy to those operations in the next few years.

That move alone is notable, since Apple’s China-based manufacturers have long been accused of polluting the environment. Back in 2011, iPhone supplier Pegatron was reprimanded over environmental concerns, while Apple reportedly clamped down on Foxconn and UniMicron in 2013 following accusations that they released water tainted by toxic metals into rivers.

One company’s initiatives won’t elicit a full clean up of China’s manufacturing industry, but Apple putting pressure on its partners to be more environmental friendly is a major development. Indeed, Foxconn’s own pledge today to create 400 megawatts of solar power by 2018 — the equivalent, it said, of the energy it uses for “final production” of the iPhone — is proof of the potential for change.

Apple also revealed today that its operations in China are now carbon neutral. That’s because — thanks to the completion of a 40 megawatts solar power system in the Sichuan Province — the company now produces more electricity in China than it uses in its offices and retail stores in the country.

The U.S. giant said it isn’t done there, and it plans to extend its solar projects with an additional 200 megawatts through projects in the north, east and south of China. It claimed that, once these additional facilities come online, its green energy production “will produce the equivalent of the energy used by more by than 265,000 Chinese homes in a year and will begin to offset the energy used in Apple’s supply chain.”

“Climate change is one of the great challenges of our time, and the time for action is now,” Cook said in a statement. “The transition to a new green economy requires innovation, ambition and purpose. We believe passionately in leaving the world better than we found it and hope that many other suppliers, partners and other companies join us in this important effort.”

Apple is certainly setting the bar for others to follow. The company is carbon neutral in the U.S. and China, while it claimed that renewable energy powers 87 percent of its international operations.

Source by: http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/21/apple-reveals-solar-energy-programs-to-clean-up-its-manufacturing-partners-in-china/

UK-assembled PV-heat batteries set out to ‘prove real impact on fuel poverty’

Sunamp, a Scottish manufacturer of heat batteries for domestic energy storage, including models designed to link with PV systems, has started serial production of its units from a base in the UK.

Company boss Andrew Bissell and his team revealed at the Solar Energy UK show yesterday that Sunamp’s assembly partner, Bay Solutions, is putting together Sunamp products at a rate of 100 cells a week, equating to 50 units.

While the company undoubtedly wants to go for the wider commercial market long term, the initial focus of this output will be for a community-run and privately-invested programme to assess the long-term impact on fuel poverty of using the heat storage in combination with PV on the roofs of at least 1,000 social housing developments.

After initial production began about a month ago, Bissell said, the output from Bay Solutions is at 250kWh weekly, with each heat cell holding 2.5kWh of thermal energy and each battery unit of two cells holding 5kWh. Bay Solutions had until now been making electronics boards for the batteries’ control systems but now taken on the role of producing the finished “white box” product.

The initial line of batteries will be the Sunamp PV model. As might be expected from the name, these are intended for self-consumption of PV by households. The cells use Phase Change Materials that melt and release heat when needed – melting at around 58 degrees centigrade. Sunamp claims that in contrast to a normal domestic PV system, which exports a large portion of its generated power, the heat battery allows the system user to consume as much as 80% of the PV power as converted heat energy.

Bissell has long been vocal in pointing out that in Britain, more energy is expended “in the thermal domain” as in the electrical, and claims the devices, which also work to make already installed combi boilers more efficient, can save a household up to £271 a year over the 20 year life of the PV system.

While some companies are keeping their cards close to their chests and reluctant to reveal prices ahead of full-scale launch in the UK, Sunamp has quoted prices of around £1,700 per 5kWh system – although prices exclude VAT, due to the variable rate of the tax according to whether the property it is going into is new build (0% rate), an energy efficient property (5% rate) or otherwise (20% full VAT rate). As a benchmark, Tesla’s Powerwall electrical storage battery will be sold to installers at US$3,500 (£2,270) for a 10kWh system.

Chinese investor-backed social housing trial

The first units to roll off the production line will be used in the Eastheat, programme to “prove the real impact on fuel poverty” of combining PV and energy storage in the Edinburgh region. It will be part funded by the Scottish government through the Local Energy Challenge Fund, put together by Scottish community renewable energy advisory group Local Energy Scotland.

Sunamp has partnered with two housing associations, East Lothian Housing Association and Castle Rock Edinvar. There are four other consortia in the Eastheat programme, with Sunamp and the others winning the projects through a competitive process against over 100 other candidates.

Interestingly, the project was developed before the proposal of drastic feed-in tariff (FiT) cuts in the UK. As a result of the announced cuts, the plan has been revised to maximise the number of installations from an initially planned 1,000 rooftop PV systems and 650 Sunamp heat batteries. An estimated 3,000 PV installations will be carried out instead by Eastheat’s installation partner Edison Energy. “…Due to the planned changes to the feed-in tariff the challenge was accepted to maximise the installations within the housing association properties wherever it was feasible,” Bissell told Solar Power Portal.

As the programme was enlarged, Bissell said, a Chinese investor – which Edison Energy preferred not to name at this stage – stepped in with a £10 million contribution to the project’s costs. This could also mean a ramping up of the expected 650 Sunamp system deployments.

Bissell said he personally did not know any further details of the Chinese investor.

However, he said that it was "obviously...a big investment and obviously the feed-in tariff for PV is key to it happening".

source by: http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/uk_assembled_pv_heat_batteries_in_project_to_prove_real_impact_on_fuel_pove