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POPSChina to Build Large Solar Power Plants While China is a huge industrial nation with a checquered environmental history, they are now investing heavily in solar energy. Perhaps this is because China can see the effects of overcrowding and energy scarcity clearer than other countries which haven't grown as quickly in the last few decades.
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POPSSolar Power Brings Light to Rural India Solar powered LED lights can light bulbs can light an entire village, using about the same amount of power as a 100 watt light bulb. This is being used as a tool to help remote villages have better education and safer houses. (Usually they use kerosene, which is a dirty fuel source, expensive over time and dangerous.) The Indian government plans to install lighting for 112,000 villages in the next ten years. Even more exciting, they are looking to manufacture LED lights locally. This will make them cheaper, and also provide more work in India. This is an example of how raising the quality of life for people is a self perpetuating cycle.
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POPS37 million new Renewable Energy Jobs? According to this new report from the American Solar energy society, this is just the case. 37 million is about 17% of US employment, so this is a huge projection. This definition of renewable energy jobs includes bio fuel and fuel cells. More interestingly, most of the anticipated jobs are in the private sector. Jobs include electricians, engineers, project managers, accountants, and more. Renewable energy has potential to provide an extremely broad range of jobs.
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POPSEconomic Gloom? The Solar Future still Looks Sunny Chinese, German, American and Australian investors (including a large oil company) are investing heavily in solar technology. This is despite the doom and gloom economic forecasts recently. This is a good sign not only for renewable resources, but also for the workforce. Perhaps skills in the solar energy means entry into a more reliable job market.
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POPSObama plans to Double Spending on Renewable Energy While clean energy is obviously good for the environment, this plan has benefits that are even more immediate. Simply put: clean energy jobs are hard to outsource. Therefore benefits of increasing spending on clean energy are twofold. Firstly, Obama hopes to create jobs that keep Americans employed. Secondly, clean energy decreases reliance on imported oil, coal and gas. Another point is that by becoming a leader in clean technology, America has skills that other countries will have a need for. Germany among other solar energy leaders as already found their technologies are very exportable
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POPSWords of Wisdom for First Time Parents It is hard to figure out what's a real worry and what's not a big problem with a new baby. If in doubt, ask a professional, but I guess common sense (not that common) comes into it too.
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POPSSolar Energy in India and the Rise of Global Awareness Very interesting: "per capita emissions." Does this mean that in the future, you could be taxed differently than your neighbour depending on what car you drive, how far you commute, how much you recycle. It's already slightly that way, for instance you can get tax rebates for buying solar panels. If it was broken down into 'per capita emissions' though, this would be a very different story.
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POPSSolar News Roundup It appears solar and renewable energies are inching closer into the main stream economy. Especially in the building and housing industry.
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POPSOrganic Wool Natural Fibers are often really well designed, healthy and wool is one of the best.
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POPSGrid Parity Indeed the 'holy grail' of solar energy. As solar becomes more commercially viable, the speed of its development will also increase.
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POPSSolar Energy Speed to Market A Nuclear Energy Plant takes 10 years to build. Solar Energy is very fast. This installation: 2.25 kilowatts' worth (enough to power half a home) of their proprietary Lumeta PowerPly modules on a roof in San Leandro in just under 35 minutes.
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POPSMoore's Law and the Cost of Solar Energy Interesting. I like to see patterns emerging in technology trends. This one makes sense, but the fact is that there are many different types of solar panels, including solar thermal and solar hot water, that are already competitive.
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POPSCheaper than Coal... Several solar companies have announced that they can produce solar panels that have a cheaper dollars per watt price tag than coal. While these don't seem to have reached the domestic market yet, it's and interesting development.
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POPSLEED and the Standardization of Green Building LEED green building has come out with a new program for assessing green buildings. This is very helpful for green building practitioners as a whole. There needs to be a measure that can be applied across the board so that green buildings can be fairly assessed. So far LEEDS is probably the most international of building standards. Their new program seeks to take green buildings even more into the mainstream.
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POPSSolar Hot Water Types I heard this from a solar hot water installer who refuses to install open loop systems any longer. He reckoned he may have lost a few clients to the higher price of closed loop, but the clients he's installed for are happy in the long term.
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POPSSolar Panel Performance Testing This a very good idea. Lack of an across-the-board standard for solar panels has hindered its adoption. Having panels tested independently by the government will boost consumer confidence. Solar tiles are also an example of integrated technology. They are not as noticeable as panels. Their price is also slightly offset by the fact that they replace the need for roofing tiles where they are installed.
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POPSPhotovoltaics - How they Work It'd be nice to see a video of this.... The photovoltaic effect was first discovered in 1839. The first photovoltaic cells were made in 1918. Since then Einstein developed photovoltaics. There was a lot of research and development during the 1960's Space Race, when satellites were powered by solar panels. The 1970's saw the beginning of residential solar use. For houses living far off the electricity grid, photovoltaics made financial sense. Prices have since fallen from $30 a watt down to $7 a watt for residential installations. Now due to technology advancing and power costs rising, the price of solar energy is still falling. The future of solar energy looks bright indeed.
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POPSSolar Stocks It's interesting the connection between oil and electricity. Part of it is psychological. On the other hand, oil prices do effect electricity, especially coal based electricity. Oil is used in the transport and extraction of coal. And also, oil is so central to all our commerce that its price has multiple side effects on our economy.
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POPSWhere the Real Power Lies- in the Distribution Network This article touches on one of the great strengths of solar energy - the ability to produce power in many de-centralized locations and distribute it widely with very little loss. And as in the spread of telephones, electricity, tv and railway, the real power is held by those who own the distribution network. What's especially interesting here is that you can draw parallels between solar power and the biggest network around at the moment - the internet. The way in which both these mediums are alike is that they inherently resist centralized control. While you can build giant solar power stations, there is still the capability for a homeowner to have their own mini-power station on their roof. This democratization, of information by the internet, and electricity by solar power, is, I think ,a good thing. Both for the environment and for the individual.
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POPSBuilt-in Obsolescence in Solar Tariffs Creates Growth By removing the major obstacle to solar energy - high start-up costs - solar has grown tremendously in Spain. Phasing out this tariff gradually over time is also wise. This decreases dependence on these tariffs - which could destabilise the solar energy market
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POPSSolar Energy in Bangladesh Large government investment in Bangladesh grows solar industry. In remote rural areas, solar panel installations can rapidly improve living conditions. These reduce the urgency for large electricity infrastructures to be built.
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POPSGreen Collar A new term to indicate a new sector of our society. And a possible upheaval to come in this sector.
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POPSSolar TPower in Africa An interesting economic proposition . Countries that were previously disadvantaged by desert and arid land have the potential to become the main suppliers of solar energy.
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POPSIncentives may end for Solar Energy This may in fact be a good thing. While I think solar energy needs to grow as a energy source, artificially lowering the price has a limited useful life. For instance, the oil crisis of 1973 caused car manufacturers to make much more efficient cars. Similarly, a change in solar prices could induce cheaper, more efficient solar panels. The stakes are already high for to fill the gap created by oil's high cost. It looks like they may get higher.
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POPSSolar City in Alice Springs Interesting idea. However, one of the major benefits of solar energy (in my opinion) is it's decentralizing of energy. In effect, each person can be responsible, to a degree, for their own electricity. This ownership by the individual is both empowering and democratic. This gives greater responsibility to the individual. I think this is one of the major changes that needs to happen for our consumption to be more sustainable.
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POPSCarbon Neutral Business and Planting Trees to offset CO2 This is an interesting calculation. The practise of planting trees to offset carbon emissions has been praised and questioned. While planting trees can only be a good thing, whether it is as effective as cutting down emissions is doubtful. Ideally, businesses would do both.
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POPSThin Film Photovoltaics Thin film photovoltaics are an interesting develpment. Fuelled by a worldwide shortage of silicon (caused by a huge growth in demand for solar energy) thin film solar has risen in popularity. While less efficient (now) than traditional solar panels, thin film is cheaper to produce.
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