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Bhutan – On the Wings of Light Part 1
The Solar Electric Light Fund brings solar power technology to people in the developing world. Here we see a project that the group took on in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan using micro-credit and solar as a means to electrify rural communities.
For more, see Bhutan – On the Wings of Light Part 2
Sun for Rent – Leasing Solar Panels
Installing solar panels to heat your home is beyond the means of many Americans. However, Bill Whitaker (CBS News) shows us how to get the benefits of solar power without paying for the panels up front.
Could Solar Roadways power the U.S.?
There is no question that the United States is blessed both with some of the world’s best solar resources and the largest highway network in the world.
Put two and two together and you may just have the solution to America’s energy problem. At least that’s what Solar Roadways inventor Scott Brusaw believes.
Brusaw’s company was just awarded a $100,000 grant by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DOT) for one of the most visionary solar projects ever conceived — to convert America’s roadways into the world’s largest solar energy system.
According to Brusaw, the lower 48 states contain about 25,000 square miles of roadways. If these roadways collected solar energy at 15 percent efficiency, they would supply three times the annual energy consumption of the United States.
And perhaps even more exciting, the roadways themselves would become the “super grid” of the future, freely conducting energy to urban centers through a network of relays sheltered in the road’s base layer.
Now, that is not going to be an easy task. The Solar Roadways system could make use of current thin film technology (which has reached efficiencies of 10 percent) but the road layer also includes a grid of LED’s to allow digital striping of the roads, a feature which adds to the whopping price tag — $6900 for a 12′ x 12′ panel (producing 7.6 kWh’s of electricity per day).
In addition, the protective layer would have to be both translucent and durable enough to withstand the wear and tear of the nation’s trucking fleet. We’re talking a lot of high-strength plastic (probably polyvinyl) which would mean huge environmental impacts (and lots of petroleum).
Nevertheless it is one brilliant idea. It will be interesting if the DOT grant will result in a working prototype that may garner further research and funding.
The above interview is part of a new film called YERT (Your Environmental Road Trip) which documents some of the best out-of-the box solutions to our climate crisis.
Solar Energy Foundation, Solar PV in Ethiopia – 2009 Ashden Award winner
The Solar Energy Foundation has opened up new horizons for 10,000 villagers in Rema, Ethiopia and nearby. Their homes now have electricity for the first time thanks to 2,000 new solar home systems costing families just 75 pence a month. Young people now have the chance to train as solar technicians in an International Solar School. Graduates of the scheme have opened four Solar Centres in other areas of Ethiopia with a further 8,500 solar home systems due to be installed by the end of the year.
Project FEEDS – Solar Electric Grid
Project FEEDS in Willington, Connecticut USA generated up to 8000 watts with three arrays of solar panels.
Solar Powered Electric Car
SunMotor Group unveils a solar powered electric car.
Tax Credits and Nanotech to Make Solar Energy More Affordable
Light, flexible solar panels made with nanotechnology will soon bring down the cost of installing household solar energy systems, and new federal and state tax credits are providing additional incentive.
