EchoFirst Solar Energy Technology: How It Works
EchoFirst® Inc. (formerly PVT Solar) is the creator of Echo®, a revolutionary new solar energy system that delivers twice the energy of a basic solar electric (PV) system.
Unlike a basic solar system that only captures about 15% of the sun’s energy, Echo® captures over 50% of the sun’s energy, making it a more efficient system. This video helps explain the technology behind Echo’s revolutionary technology that produces electricity plus home heating, home cooling, water heating and fresh air ventilation.
For more information visit their website, EchoFirst.com
New Solar Product Captures Up to 95 Percent of Light Energy
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Efficiency is a problem with today’s solar panels; they only collect about 20 percent of available light. Now, a University of Missouri engineer has developed a flexible solar sheet that captures more than 90 percent of available light, and he plans to make prototypes available to consumers within the next five years.
Patrick Pinhero, an associate professor in the MU Chemical Engineering Department, is developing a flexible solar sheet that captures more than 90 percent of available light. Today’s solar panels only collect 20 percent of available light.
Patrick Pinhero, an associate professor in the MU Chemical Engineering Department, says energy generated using traditional photovoltaic (PV) methods of solar collection is inefficient and neglects much of the available solar electromagnetic (sunlight) spectrum. The device his team has developed – essentially a thin, moldable sheet of small antennas called nantenna – can harvest the heat from industrial processes and convert it into usable electricity. Their ambition is to extend this concept to a direct solar facing nantenna device capable of collecting solar irradiation in the near infrared and optical regions of the solar spectrum.
Working with his former team at the Idaho National Laboratory and Garrett Moddel, an electrical engineering professor at the University of Colorado, Pinhero and his team have now developed a way to extract electricity from the collected heat and sunlight using special high-speed electrical circuitry. This team also partners with Dennis Slafer of MicroContinuum, Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., to immediately port laboratory bench-scale technologies into manufacturable devices that can be inexpensively mass-produced.
“Our overall goal is to collect and utilize as much solar energy as is theoretically possible and bring it to the commercial market in an inexpensive package that is accessible to everyone,” Pinhero said. “If successful, this product will put us orders of magnitudes ahead of the current solar energy technologies we have available to us today.”
As part of a rollout plan, the team is securing funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and private investors. The second phase features an energy-harvesting device for existing industrial infrastructure, including heat-process factories and solar farms.
Within five years, the research team believes they will have a product that complements conventional PV solar panels. Because it’s a flexible film, Pinhero believes it could be incorporated into roof shingle products, or be custom-made to power vehicles.
Once the funding is secure, Pinhero envisions several commercial product spin-offs, including infrared (IR) detection. These include improved contraband-identifying products for airports and the military, optical computing, and infrared line-of-sight telecommunications.
A study on the design and manufacturing process was published in the Journal of Solar Energy Engineering.
Emerson To Provide Power Technology For One Of The Largest Solar Energy Projects In The U.S.
Emerson (NYSE: EMR) has been awarded a contract to supply power technology for one of the largest solar energy projects in the United States. Under an agreement with Wind Turbine & Energy Cables Corp. (WTEC), a leader in the innovation of solar and wind engineered systems, Emerson will provide utility-scale power inverters for a 30-megawatt solar power plant in Webberville, Texas.
Emerson’s power inverters convert DC power from solar arrays into AC power, which is placed directly on the electric grid and is used by homes and businesses. Emerson’s power inverters are controlled through a state-of-the-art inverter management system.
“Emerson’s innovative inverter technology and its leadership in the solar energy market made the company an obvious choice for us as a partner,” said Brian Singh, CEO, WTEC. “Emerson’s strong financial stability and dependable, long-term warranty service capabilities also were attractive to us. It is a tribute to the progress in solar design and technology that enables WTEC, together with Emerson, to be involved at the forefront of successful alternative energy programs.”
Located just outside Austin, the Webberville project is expected to be operational by the end of the year and will generate clean electricity to power 5,000 homes. The project is financed, developed and owned by Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, a global independent power producer that develops, owns, and operates solar power plants worldwide. WTEC is an electrical subcontractor for Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas), which develops, constructs, owns and operates renewable energy projects throughout North America. RES Americas is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor, and will provide operations and maintenance of the facility for five years.
“Emerson has provided over 400 megawatts of utility-scale inverters for solar energy projects worldwide, and we are pleased to supply critical technology to one of the largest and most innovative solar projects in the nation,” said Mark Bulanda, who serves as global leader for Emerson’s solar and wind energy initiatives. “This project demonstrates trust in the Emerson brand, and it reflects as well our commitment to renewable energy.”
The facility will provide electricity for Austin Energy for 25 years under a long-term power purchase agreement. Austin Energy is the ninth-largest public power utility in the United States.
About Emerson
Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and tools and storage businesses. Sales in fiscal 2010 were $21 billion. For more information, visit www.Emerson.com.
GE Launches New Digital Magazine – First Issue all Solar
Photo Credit: General Electric
General Electric (GE) has just launched a new weekly digital magazine called Txchnologist. The first issue, devoted entirely to solar energy, is entitled Solar Power, A Look at the ‘Sun Motor’ from Past to Future.
Articles include:
1) Polar Solar
2) Data Points: Solar’s Declining Cost Per Watt
3) Unexpected Solar Cities
4) Comment: Solar’s New Era of Optimism
5) Space Race: Will Space-Based Solar Take Off?
6) Hawaii’s Solar Paradox
7) The Take: A Quirky History of Solar Power
8) How it Works: CdTe vs cSI
Future issues promise to offer “an optimistic, but not utopian, take on the future and humanity’s ability to tackle the great challenges of our era through industry, technology and ingenuity.”
Looking forward to it GE!
Twitter + Solar Energy = #SolarEnergyChat
Twitter may not be as popular as Facebook, but for solar energy users and businesses Twitter is an indispensable tool. With over 200 million users generating over 100 million tweets a day one cannot ignore the networking benefits that Twitter offers.
For the uninitiated, Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service enabling users to send and receive messages called tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters that are displayed on the user’s profile page.
Recently, real-time chat among Twitter users has become a popular way for followers of a particular topic to meet, exchange ideas, and make new friends.
On Wednesday April 6th, at 6:00PM PST, and every Wednesday thereafter, Solar Energy Directory (@solarenergy_dir) and PSEO, Professional Search Engine Optimization (@PSEO_Inc) will be hosting a 1-hour solar energy chat on Twitter. We invite each and every one of you to attend.
This week our special guest will be Patricia Agudow, VP, OPEL Solar Inc.
To access you will need to do the following:
1) Become a member of Twitter if you are not already. Membership is free. For support help, see Twitter basics.
2) At the specified time, enter #solarenergychat (with hashtag #) in the search window and voila, the conversation will unfold before you. If you’re not familiar with the use of hashtags see Twitter Support: What are Hashtags?
3) When posting remember to include #solarenergychat at the end of your post to insure it appears in the chat queue, otherwise we won’t see it.
4) We recommend using Tweetchat.com. Login with your Twitter account and enter solarenergychat in the hashtag box. Once you’re in you will no longer need to enter #solarenergychat into every post, Tweetchat does it for you automatically.
Join the conversation. Join us for #solarenergychat
ZenithSolar, a Combined Heat and Power Provider Signs Landmark Agreement with Chinese Government
KIRYAT GAT, Israel / LANZHOU, China – February 22, 2011- ZenithSolar Ltd., provider of the world’s most efficient combined heat and power solar system, announced today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Energy Bureau of Gansu Provincial Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China for cooperation in the development of combined heat and power (CHP) solar stations in the Gansu province. The MOU was signed at a ceremony in the provincial capital Lanzhou.Zenith Panel
Under the agreement, ZenithSolar will provide the technology for the installation of two 10 megawatt (MW) cogeneration plants based on ZenithSolar’s Z20 CHP system. The Gansu province of China has a population of near 30 million and is located in northwestern China approximately 1,200 kilometers from Beijing. The Gansu Province lies at the edge of the Gobi desert and has the best solar energy conditions in China and among the best anywhere in the world.
The agreement is focused on two planned facilities which are to be located in the cities of Jiayuguan and Jinchang and to commence their installation during 2011. One of the installations will be used to provide electricity and process heat for an industrial plant and the other for a large neighborhood.
Under the terms of the MOU, the Energy Bureau of Gansu will recommend the use of ZenithSolar’s CHP system for other locations in the Gansu Province after the successful operation of the two pilot plants. The Energy Bureau also announced that in concert with the introduction of the CHP technology a scientific research center will be established to provide training for government institutions, enterprises and individuals to focus on the development of new solar energy technology.
“ZenithSolar is honored to initiate the Gansu project in a province of China that is demonstrating leadership, vision and a long term commitment to renewable energy, said Roy Segev the CEO of ZenithSolar Ltd. We look forward to the collaboration in order to turn the Gansu project into a reality and thereby contribute to China’s ambitious renewable energy goals.”
“We are very pleased to be partnering with ZenithSolar, a leader in solar CHP technology, in developing the first significant solar project to adopt advanced CPV technology in China,” said Mr. Wang Yongqian, Chairman of Gansu Foreign Affair Office.
The Gansu project represents the first large-scale solar collaboration between China and the Israeli company ZenithSolar in the field of CHP solar energy. “ZenithSolar’s system has proven its reliability and effectiveness in providing electric power and heat for over a year in an existing facility in Israel and we view the Gansu project as a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate the technology on a global scale,” said Roy Segev, CEO of Zenith Solar Ltd.
ZenithSolar Fast Facts
* Combined heat and power generation with 72% efficiency
* zero emissions environment
* one field (of 220 Z20s) at sunny climates can:
* generate 2,000MWh of electricity and 4,000MWh of thermal energy per year
* replace 1,900 tons of fossil fuel per year
* prevent pollution of 3,200 tons of C02 pollution per year
* offset the pollution of 1,200 vehicles per year
About ZenithSolar
ZenithSolar has developed a modular and easily scalable combined heat and power (CHP) high concentration photovoltaic system (HCPV). The core technology is based on a unique, proprietary optical design to extract maximum energy with minimal land usage. The highly efficient system provides high electricity output combined with heat at temperatures well suited for domestic hot water use. In addition the heat can be used for industrial process applications as well as other cogeneration applications. Zenith Solar has a unique, cost effective mass production capability based o the use of readily available materials and a vertically integrated supply chain.
For more information please visit: http://www.zenithsolar.com/
DOE Pursues SunShot Initiative to Achieve Cost Competitive Solar Energy by 2020
Announces $27 Million in Projects to Advance Solar Development and Manufacturing
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced additional details of the Department of Energy’s “SunShot” initiative to reduce the total costs of photovoltaic solar energy systems by about 75 percent so that they are cost competitive at large scale with other forms of energy without subsidies before the end of the decade. By reducing the cost for utility scale installations by about 75 percent to roughly $1 a watt – which would correspond to roughly 6 cents per kilowatt-hour – solar energy systems could be broadly deployed across the country.
This will increase American economic competitiveness and help the U.S. regain leadership in the global market for solar photovoltaics. As part of the SunShot initiative, Secretary Chu announced today that the Department of Energy is awarding $27 million in projects to support the development, commercialization, and manufacturing of advanced solar energy technologies.
“America is in a world race to produce cost-effective, quality photovoltaics. The SunShot initiative will spur American innovations to reduce the costs of solar energy and re-establish U.S. global leadership in this growing industry,” said Secretary Chu. “These efforts will boost our economic competitiveness, rebuild our manufacturing industry and help reach the President’s goal of doubling our clean energy in the next 25 years.”
The SunShot program builds on the legacy of President Kennedy’s 1960s “moon shot” goal, which laid out a plan to regain the country’s lead in the space race and land a man on the moon. The program will aggressively drive innovations in the ways that solar systems are conceived, designed, manufactured and installed.
In addition to investing in improvements in cell technologies and manufacturing, the SunShot initiative will also focus on steps to streamline and digitize local permitting processes that will reduce installation and permitting costs. To achieve the SunShot goal of reducing the total installed cost of large scale solar electricity by about 75 percent, DOE will be working closely with partners in government, industry, research laboratories and academic institutions across the country.
SunShot will work to bring down the full cost of solar – including the costs of the solar cells and installation – by focusing on four main pillars:
* Technologies for solar cells and arrays that convert sunlight to energy;
* Electronics that optimize the performance of the installation;
* Improvements in the efficiency of solar manufacturing processes;
* Installation, design and permitting for solar energy systems.
For more information and to follow the initiative’s progress, visit: www.energy.gov/sunshot
As part of the launch of the SunShot initiative, DOE is also announcing $27 million in awards to nine new projects. This funding includes support for five projects that are receiving $20 million to further develop U.S. supply chains for PV manufacturing. This includes support for companies across the solar energy supply chain, including U.S. material and tool suppliers and companies that are developing technologies that can be adopted directly into current manufacturing processes. More information and a list of awardees is available HERE.
Additionally, DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory is investing $7 million to fund the latest round of the successful PV Incubator program, which helps to shorten the commercialization timeline for promising emerging solar technologies. The companies work closely with DOE national laboratories to scale their technologies and manufacturing processes and move the products from pre-commercial and prototype stage to pilot and full-scale manufacturing operations. More information and a list of awardees is available HERE.
The SunShot initiative builds on the Department’s significant research and development (R&D) efforts in solar energy over the past decade, conducted in partnership with American universities, national laboratories and the private sector. In the last ten years, DOE has invested more than $1 billion in solar energy research that has been leveraged with significant private industry funding to support more than $2 billion in total solar R&D projects. This includes investments by DOE’s Office of Science, Solar Energy Technologies Program, and ARPA-E, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. Innovations in both science and technology have driven the cost of solar down 60 percent since 1995, and have yielded a number of critical breakthroughs in solar PV performance and cost. A fact sheet detailing some of the Department’s past and current work in solar energy is available HERE.
