The costs of solar panels have steadily decreased over the last few years. The costs of the installation itself have pretty much stayed the same. The Department of Energy has now launched a $10 million prize in an effort to lower installation costs, which are taking up an increasing amount of the total costs of residential solar power. In fact, “soft-costs”, which basically covers everything apart from hardware, is now the largest portion of today`s residential solar panel costs. The top … [Read more...]
Energy Storage and Daily Price Variations
August 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment
It is not unusual that the price for electricity can vary significantly over a period of 24 hours. Daily fluctuations usually range from 100-150%. The lowest prices can be found early in the morning where it starts growing and reaches it`s highest peak shortly after noon. We also consume less energy in weekends. Energy storage systems can take advantage of these price changes. Storing energy when demand is low and discharging the same energy when prices go up could result in a nice … [Read more...]
Smart Home Reduces Energy Consumption by 88%
August 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment
It has been one and a half years since Osaka Gas and Sekisui House started working together on the Smart Energy House project. They wanted to test how much energy and carbon dioxide they could save by optimizing a house to be less dependent on outside energy sources. Promising Results From July 1st 2011 to June 30th 2012, a three-person family was put in the house, and their energy usage was recorded and analyzed throughout the year. This is what they found: According to their own … [Read more...]
Rent-A-Roof Schemes – Free Solar Panels Affecting Mortgage?
April 30, 2012 by 3 Comments
In the UK recently there has been a lot of buzz about mortgage lenders refusing mortgages and re-mortgages on homes that have solar under the rent a roof scheme. Is there any truth in this, are people actually finding themselves unable to get a mortgage? Prior to April 2010 there were no free solar installations in the UK, in fact there were very few paid solar photovoltaic installations. Two years later there were some 300,000 domestic solar systems installed on people's homes. There are … [Read more...]
How Can the Government Encourage Energy Efficiency?
April 18, 2012 by 1 Comment
Almost any news website will have a section covering the latest environmental developments, and most of this section will be dedicated to renewable energy. However, improvements in energy efficiency can make a much larger difference in terms of carbon emissions, and these solutions are often much simpler and most cost effective to implement. The issue is that whilst electricity or gas consumption is a huge problem on a national scale, an unfortunately large number of households do not feel … [Read more...]
Grid Energy Storage – Craig Shields Interview
April 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment
We expect to see more and more renewable energy sources such as solar and wind in the coming years. These are highly unpredictable sources of energy. When the wind is blowing and the sun is shining, we have a surplus of energy that needs to be stored for days where the consumption exceeds the amount of energy being produced. Craig Shields is the author of Renewable Energy – Facts and Fantasies: The Tough Realities as Revealed in Interviews with 25 Subject Matter, the #1 best-selling energy … [Read more...]
The Future of Nuclear Power One Year After the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster
March 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Exactly one year ago, March 11 in 2011, Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale. Following the earthquake, a violent tsunami struck the northeast coast of Japan, where Fukushima is located. The natural disaster claimed 20,000 lives, as well as several meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants, which lead to release of nuclear radiation. A recent poll reveals that the people of Japan are starting to rethink nuclear energy: Almost … [Read more...]
Enviromission’s Solar Updraft Tower in Arizona
October 11, 2011 by 1 Comment
The Australian company Enviromission has come a long way with their massive solar updraft tower project in Arizona. This structure is planned to be even taller than the current highest building in the world, Burj Khalifa (828 m), and is estimated to generate 200MW, powering about 150.000 typical U.S households. How does a solar updraft tower work? Solar updraft towers are often confused with the towers that are used in solar thermal power stations. These use large solar mirrors … [Read more...]