Mike Strizki says he’s figured out how to store solar energy in a way that could provide the world with an infinite source of year-round, emissions-free power, but also says no one is listening to him.
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It was an unusual setting for a light bulb show.
On Tuesday, Home Depot showcased its energy efficient light bulbs–including high-efficiency incandescent bulbs, compact florescent light bulbs (CFL’s) and light-emitting diodes (LED’s)–in the penthouse suite of the luxury hotel Setai Fifth Avenue. Bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen were illuminated by the various kinds of bulbs, with employees from various major lighting groups, including CREE, Philips, Lighting Science Group, Lutron Electronics, and TCP, explaining just how much energy could be saved from their lighting devices. Keep reading →
Advantix Systems has its origins in a company established in the 1980s in Israel by three brothers who wanted to build an ice rink. Their quest to keep ice cool led the company to the development of a liquid desiccant based on salt water from the Dead Sea that removes humidity from the air.
Heating, Ventilation and Cooling (HVAC) systems account for around 30% of electricity used in US homes. Advantix claims its systems reduce energy demand by 35%-50%. Keep reading →
The first thing commuters in the environmentally aware neighborhood of the future do when they get home is plug in their electric cars, and that’s the problem.
“That’s a looming utility nightmare,” says Jim Pauley, Schneider Electric’s new senior vice president for External Affairs and Government Relations. “Utility infrastructure was built for something completely different,” he said, and neighborhood concentrations pulling new EV loads at 6 p.m. on still-hot afternoons could be disastrous for local distribution grids. Keep reading →
With the Plug-In 2011 Conference and Exposition currently taking place in North Carolina, both public and private organizations are taking action to help build the electric vehicle infrastructure and increase electric vehicle (EV) usage.
Illinois has recently passed two laws that will offer grants for EV purchases and establish an advisory panel to encourage EV usage within the state. Meanwhile, Ford Motor Company leveraged social media on Thursday when it hosted a Hybrid Durability Live Chat and fielded questions from the public on EVs. Keep reading →
Electric vehicle charging stations are now headed home, literally.
GE Energy Industrial Solutions has joined with Lowe’s to offer consumers its new GE WattStation Wall Mount Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station. The station will charge EV’s in less time than standard overnight chargers and will soon be available for both home and commercial use, the company says. Keep reading →
Last month, both Google and Microsoft announced the retirement of their home energy management applications.
The loss of Google’s PowerMeter and Microsoft’s Hohm has led to commentary about the difficulty of engaging energy consumers, and specifically about the fact that simply presenting energy use data seems to have little effect on consumer behavior. Google in particular has been faulted for devoting too much real estate in PowerMeter to displaying customers’ energy use throughout the day. Keep reading →
Wind Analytics is everything an energy firm isn’t supposed to be.
The startup firm is new, small in scale, focused on leveraging distributed generation, funded by venture capital and headquartered in an icily cool part of New York City’s Brooklyn Borough. In an industry dominated by behemoth established players built on the hub-and-spoke model of centralized fossil fuel energy production distributed over vast physical footprints, Wind Analytics differences make it the anomaly that could just be the industry’s data-driven future. Keep reading →
A combination of pricing transparency and concern for the environment will drive steady uptake of smart meters both among large-scale and domestic customers even in the absence of a federal US electricity policy, technology firm eMeter says.
Although larger facilities represent the “low-hanging fruit” for gains in energy efficiency among electric utility customers, domestic customers share the same concerns about pricing and their environmental footprint, eMeter Chief Regulatory Officer Chris King told Breaking Energy. Keep reading →
These super high-efficiency thin film photovoltaic panels were just released into the American market on Wednesday.
Designed by global solar PV firm Q-Cells, the panels come with a Power Appreciation Warranty of 25 years, with the panels guaranteed to operate at 100% performance for the first three years and at a loss of no more than .7% efficiency per year for every following year. Keep reading →
