#How Sunport Delivers Solar energy Without the Panels At of the end of 2014, the amount of electricity from solar power being generated in the US was only 0. 8%of the total energy mix in our electrical grid.
Last year, nearly 645,000 US homes and businesses were using power from the sun. That like saying every person in Nashville,
the US Energy Information Administration estimates that solar will grow from what you see in the chart above to about 3%of our grid energy mix coming from solar by 2040 (note that the chart above doesn account for rooftop solar power).
President Obama Clean Power Plan, announced last week, seeks to rive more aggressive investment in clean energy technologies than the proposed rule,
with the hope of boosting all renewable energy generation by 2030 by 30%.%Yet, even with these measures, nonrenewables will still dominate our energy mix
. or solar to truly thrive, everyone needs to use it. However, many people either do not own their roofs
or still cannot afford to purchase systems. Things like zero-down solar PPAS are helping that,
says Paul Droege inventor of the Sunport. he expense of solar panels and required ownership of a roof limit solar growth.
The Sunport smart device plugs into the wall between the electricity grid and your powered devices
serving as a portal to the solar energy on the grid. Sunport is the world first smart grid solar delivery device,
instantly providing 100%solar for anything it is used with. e are democratizing solar and bringing this clean energy to the masses,
Droege says. unport is putting the power of choice in people hands, giving everyone the ability to choose renewable over traditional energy,
while creating demand for more solar projects to be built. Whenever you plug into Sunport, the power you get from it is upgraded automatically to solar through the company proprietary smart grid technology.
It tracks the energy you use through it to power your devices and matches that up with real solar production out there in the world.
It does this by leveraging the same solar renewable energy certificates (SRECS) market that large corporations use to reduce their carbon footprints.
More on that later. Solar panels are required still to make this solar energy, but you don need to own them.
Sunport platform lets you access expensive solar infrastructure, just like how your smartphone runs on the (very costly) mobile network you don own.
Using Sunport does not mean you have to pay for your power twice. Whoever pays the power bill is paying for standard grid power.
Sunport simply adds a small additional cost that provides the solar upgrade which also pays to help support new solar farms feeding even more solar into the grid.
This upgrade cost is considerably less than standard grid power, since it just for the upgrade and not the electricity itself.
As an example, a month solar upgrade for your laptop from a Sunport will cost no more than $2 extra,
and even less than $1 for many people. But, for backers of the current Kickstarter campaign, the Sunport comes with the first year solar included in the cost of the hardware.
So no matter how much you use your Sunport the rest year there will be no extra cost for the solar upgrade. fter that,
we expect unlimited solar will cost no more than a few of dollars a month, but we also plan to offer ways for people to get it for free,
says Droege. Sunport screenshot bigco How Solar RECS Work with Sunport Any device, be it your phone
or gaming console, plugged into an enabled Sunport consumes solar energy without requiring any additional steps.
Sunport simply measures the power from the wall and automatically matches it against SRECS through Sunport technology platform.
The third-party, transparent accounting of these SRECS guarantees the energy you use through the device is real
validated solar energy. In the late 1990s, the government created renewable energy credits (RECS) as a way to separate renewable from nonrenewable energy.
Serving as tradable environmental commodities, RECS represent proof that 1 megawatt-hour (MWH) of electricity was generated by an eligible renewable energy source.
A certifying agency gives each REC a unique identification number to make sure it doesn get double-counted.
SRECS were created for businesses and average people to buy power specifically from solar providers. All power coming out of your outlet is undifferentiated as to its sources,
but money goes to a solar power producer when you buy an SREC. Today SRECS are used primarily to help fund a portion of new solar projects.
Additionally, they are sold in very large quantities and at prices considered unattractive by many consumers.
For that reason, Sunport works with the nonprofit Rechoice to break down SRECS into more manageable pieces
or micro credits it calls Sunjoules. Partnering with Rechoice and using Sunjoules is unique to Sunport,
but the underlying operating principle of the Sunport platform is spelled out by the US Department of energy (Doe) and the US Environmental protection agency (EPA).
and legitimately claim use of any grid-connected renewable energy. This process matches energy use against a solar energy supply (using SRECS) in strict accordance with
what the US Federal trade commission (FTC) requires to claim use of solar energy. Moreover, for each dollar Rechoice spends to acquire SRECS,
it spends a matching dollar to install new solar on other nonprofits, which get free electricity from those installations.
That way, each Sunjoule micro credit upgrades a little bit of power today, helps add a little more new solar production to the grid
and aids in powering worthy nonprofits for years to come. he use of micro credits through a Sunport,
multiplied by many users, over time causes a lot of good, adds Droege. So, in a nutshell, Sunport tracks the energy you use,
then syncs your account up with micro credits to upgrade your grid energy use to solar, based on the well established and regulated SREC market.
Once Sunport Kickstarter campaign is funded, the Sunport app will be developed so users will be able to track the energy they use. ee reinventing how people perceive
and use solar with Sunport. By making it more accessible and affordable wee empowering everyone to create a healthier solar powered world
#Solid-state Lithium-O2 Battery Featuring Integrated Electrolyte+Cathode Structure Shows Potential A new solid-state lithium-O2 battery featuring an integrated electrolyte+cathode structure developed by researchers at the Hong kong
University of Science and Technology has shown good potential, according to recent reports. The new battery was developed with the intention of dealing with two of the primary issues facing conventional solid-state Li-air battery performance:
limited 3-phase boundaries (electrode, electrolyte, O2 interfaces) and high internal resistance. The battery features considerably improved internal resistance (reduced),
and an increase in triple-pause boundaries. These were achieved via the use of a much thinner electrolyte layer than is used conventionally (around 10%the thickness of those used in conventional batteries),
and a very highly porous cathode (with an increase of 78%in porosity as compared to conventional designs).
As a result, the battery outputs a discharge capacity as high as 14,200 ma h g-1carbon at 0. 15 ma cm-2,
and can sustain 100 cycles at a fixed capacity of 1, 000 ma h g-1carbon.
The novel integrated electrolyte and cathode structure represents a significant step toward the advancement of Li-O2 batteries.
The new work and findings are detailed in a new paper in the RSC journal Energy & Environmental science.
As ever, new battery technology reakthroughsare a dime a dozen these days, so while certainly worth taking note of,
whether or not anything actually comes out of this work with regard to the commercial sector is an open question
#First Offshore wind farm In U s. Under Construction In July, American offshore wind developer, Deepwater Wind, installed the first foundation for
what is expected to be the first offshore wind farm in the United states. The project will be located three miles southeast of Block island, Rhode island.
With five turbines totaling 30 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity, the Block island Wind farm is expected to come online in 2016.
Deepwater Wind, the developer, is also planning two larger offshore projects along the Atlantic coast, but their timing remains uncertain.
The National Renewable energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates that the United states has 4 200 gigawatts (GW) of developable offshore wind potential, compared to its estimate of 11,000 GW of onshore wind potential.
Wind resources are classified on a scale of zero to seven based on their power density, and more than 66%of offshore wind in the United states is in wind power class six or seven.
In addition, offshore wind turbines are built to take advantage of the more consistent wind speeds present over the ocean,
allowing higher utilization rates for offshore generation capacity when compared with similarly sized onshore wind turbines.
However, offshore wind is significantly more expensive to build and maintain than onshore wind. Although there are currently no operating offshore wind projects in the United states
offshore wind turbine technology has grown steadily in Europe, and, to a lesser extent, in Asia. As of 2014, Europe accounted for 90%of the estimated 8. 8 GW of installed global offshore wind turbine capacity.
Offshore wind power development in Europe began in 1991 when the first offshore farm was installed off the coast of Denmark,
although the industry had little growth from that point until the 2000s. In the United states, developers have proposed building nearly 4. 9 GW of offshore wind capacity off the coasts of nine different states,
but some challenges remain even for projects that have advanced through key regulatory and market milestones.
For example Cape Wind, a 486-MW project proposed in 2001, faced significant challenges and litigation that halted its progress.
In 2014, National grid and Eversource Energy terminated the power purchase agreements with Cape Wind because of missed project development deadlines.
This past March, Cape Wind canceled its lease in New Bedford, Massachusetts, for its planned project-staging area.
Other projects such as the Virginia Offshore wind Technology Advancement Project and Fisherman Energy Wind of New jersey have faced development hurdles despite making significant progress in project development.
Compared with Western europe, the current leader in offshore wind energy the United states is estimated to have more abundant and favorable onshore wind resources,
which are located largely in areas with low population density. So far, the high cost of domestic offshore wind projects has made them economically unattractive,
despite the availability of federal tax incentives and state policies to promote use of renewable energy.
In contrast, onshore wind capacity has grown by more than a factor of 25 since 2000. Building and maintaining offshore wind technology is compared expensive with onshore wind projects because of challenges such as transporting equipment and workers to the sites
securing turbines to the seafloor, and operating in fewer periods of fair weather. The harsher offshore environment not only makes it difficult
and more costly to perform maintenance, but it also increases the frequency that these activities have to take place e
#More Indian Airports Set to Go Solar Recently, the Kochi airport in the south Indian state of Kerala switched to solar power
and created headlines across the world. Now, another airport is set to adopt solar power to meet a majority of its power needs.
The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport in Kolkata will have a utility-scale solar power project of 15 to 20 MW capacity.
but during the night the airport would be required to purchase power from the grid. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) recently announced that major airports in the western state of Rajasthan would also set up solar power projects to meet a part of their power demand.
The Jaipur airport already has a 100 kw rooftop solar power system and is planning to set up a 1. 8 MW ground-based power project.
Jaisalmer, and Bikaner are also planning to set up rooftop projects. Other Indian airports have also set up solar power projects to meet a part of the demand,
as well as earn additional revenue. Delhi Indira Gandhi International airport, operated by GMR Infrastructure, has a solar power project registered under the Renewable energy Certificates schemes.
They started designing portable turbines in 2013, after finding there aren any on the market.
Vice president of Janulus. enewable energy is close to our heart and we saw a way to do something that we thought was pretty cool,
and weighs one and a half pounds. It has a 7, 500 milliamp-hour battery (7500 mah) for the times there is no wind. hat less than one charge for a laptop,
but you can charge your cell phone several times, said Einar. eople are getting more power hungry
when it comes to their smart phones. Trinity is very light weight, so you can carry it with you as a reserve battery wherever you are added
Agust. They have sold about 200 of Trinity 50 first generation. You can use the next size
unless you were very energy conservant, but you can definitely put a big dent in your bill,
It also has an inbuilt grid tie, which allows owners to feed the grid. Kickstarter For A 2, 500 Watt Model They have launched just their second Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds necessary to buy more machinery to manufacture a 2,
500 watt portable turbine. hat is what this kickstart is for, to get the additional machinery
and scale up the operation, said Einar. The prototype has charged already a Tesla and they say it can supply enough electricity to service a large cottage. hen it is closed it is about one meter,
or about 3 feet, and when it is opened it is it is about 3. 2 meters,
We have designed a mount that you can put on your house. This version uses a 300
000 mah battery, which Agust says would power a laptop all day. Einar added that the 2,
500 watt model fits into the trunk of a car. o if you ran out of electricity somewhere,
you would have your own personal power station, he said l
#Global Population Wants Political Action On Climate change A recent survey of over 10,000 citizens in 76 countries across five continents concluded that the global public want their leaders to act to prevent further climate change.
In a one-of-a-kind survey, the World Wide Views on Climate and Energy (WWVIEWS on Climate and Energy) engaged over 10,000 citizens in 97 debates in 76 countries across five continents earlier this year,
in an effort to give voice to the opinions of the millions of citizens who are concerned with the environment and climate change,
but have no clear voice to make themselves heard. The initiative aim was to introduce he views of citizens into the negotiation process
and surrounding debatesallowing policymakers an opportunity to know what the informed public want. WWVIEWS on Climate change and Energy initiated 97 debates around the world, inviting thousands of citizens to participate.
Each participant was provided balanced information on the issues, and allowed to discuss the issue with fellow citizens
and vote individually on questions presented to them. All of this took place on June 6, 2015,
in order to agree on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. e were delighted to co-initiate this debate
and man into the climate negotiations, said Christiana Figueres, Executive secretary of the UNFCCC, on the WWVIEWS on Climate and Energy. any cities,
(which can be read in full by way of the various resources provided by WWVIEWS on Climate and Energy):
How concerned are you about the impacts of climate change? How urgently should the world react to tackle climate change?
A total of 69.5%of respondents from developed countries were ery concernedand 28.87%oderately concerned,
67.5%of all respondents said that there should be global long-term goal for zero emissions at the end of this centurysigned at Paris,
hould your country take measure to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? While 79%of the all the respondents believe their countries should take responsibility,
considering they are made up of countries facing the most immediate threat of climate change ie, global sea level rise. e are excited very that World Wide Views on Climate
and Energy is being organized and happy to collaborate with such an important initiative, Figueres continued. ringing forward the views
we believe we are also making an important contribution to Article 6 of the Convention as it relates to education and public awareness.
World Wide Views on Climate and Energy is initiated co by the United nations Framework Convention on Climate change (UNFCCC) secretariat, the Danish Board of Technology Foundation (DBT), Missions Publiques (MP),
#Stanford Engineers Develop Solar cell Cooling Coating To Boost Efficiency A report published by Stanford details the development of a novel cooling technology that its engineers claim can improve solar panel performance.
The outcome represents a solution to a longstanding problem in the field of photovoltaics; that at higher temperatures resultant from prolonged exposure to sunlight, solar cells become increasing inefficient at converting sunlight photons into electricity.
In response to this problem the engineers developed a visibly transparent overlay more technically a silica photonic crystal overlay that increases solar cell efficiency by radiating the heat of cells away from them much like how we naturally radiate heat from our bodies to prevent overheating.
The overlay itself was made from patterned silica, fashioned into a thin, transparent material. This design means that the overlay can be laid on top of an unaltered solar cell this is important
since it infers that the new solution requires no additional tampering with the solar cells themselves to achieve cooling effects and enhanced cell performance.
The critical feature of the silica overlay is found in its micron-scale pattern, which is designed to maximise the radiating of heat, in the form of infrared light, out and away from the cell into space.
For this reason the overlay is considered a form of blackbody material. Being transparent, however, the material allows visible sunlight through to the cell,
thereby preserving the energy that required to produce electricity. But as the researchers noted in a statement,
the overlay may actually provide an enhancing effect on the cell capacity to absorb sunlight in addition to increasing cell efficiency through the cooling mechanism.
the technology works in the face of direct sunlight and was tested as such when it was installed on a Stanford rooftop.
During testing, an overlay was fitted to a solar absorber a device that provides an analogue to the properties of a solar cell and measures absorption of solar radiation,
but doesn actually produce electricity. Several other absorbers were also set up in control conditions. The photograph above kindly provided by Linxiao Zhu,
one of the study authors shows the rooftop setup, and was sent to me with the following explanation:
amples from left to right are the solar absorber structure with the planar silica layer on top, the absorber structure with verlayon top,
and two bare solar absorbers, respectively. The bare solar absorber here has structure similar as solar cell,
and is bluish. ne can observe that the structure with verlay (the second from left) has same color as the other samples,
Analysis of the data revealed that the overlay was able to cool the underlying solar absorber by up to 13°C (23°F). That might not sound much
in a typical solar cell that difference would confer a significant improvement in overall cell efficiency.
he experimentally demonstrated temperature reduction of 13°C (23°F) would translate to an absolute solar cell efficiency improvement larger than one percentage point a significant solar cell efficiency improvement.
The Stanford Report additionally noted that such a gain in energy production is predicted for a typical crystalline silicon solar cell with an efficiency of 20%.
we are actively looking into directly demonstrating solar cell efficiency improvement from our cooling strategy, by measuring the generated electricity,
explained Zhu. Clearly this is an important step. The overlay has demonstrated successfully its ability to cool a solar absorber,
when paired with a solar cell that is at the same time generating electricity. But still this must be shown under controlled conditions before we may imagine the technology being applied to the production of solar PV cells.
In this regard they point toward employing nanoprint lithography a common technique for producing nanometer scale patterns in larger quantities to produce silica overlays.
Investigating radiative cooling has been the primary focus of the researchersaims with the solar panel demonstration merely one,
The scientists also consider their findings to hold great potential for application over a wide range of electronic products which could benefit from passive cooling. esides solar cell,
the optically transparent thermal blackbody overlay has potential for cooling any outdoor electronics and outdoor structures,
where sunlight absorption is required either for functional (such as solar cells) or aesthetic reasons (such as maintaining the colors for cars, clothes etc
#Africa Could Quadruple Renewable energy Capacity By 2030 These are the primary conclusions from a new report published by the International Renewable energy Agency (IRENA), Africa 2030,
which aims to create comprehensive roadmap for Africa energy transition, and recommends 14 actions deemed helpful to speeding the uptake of renewables across Africa.
The report is part of IRENA REMAP 2030 program. frica holds some of the best renewable energy resources in the world in the form of biomass, geothermal, hydropower,
and expand their energy systems while providing a pathway for low-carbon economic growth. ccording to the report,
Africa could see renewable energy ealistically meet22%of its energy needs by 2030, which equates to a more than fourfold increase on the 5%of 2013.
the report also concludes that such a scale up of renewables in Africa s an affordable means to help meet fast-growing energy demand while increasing energy access, improving health,
and achieving sustainability goals.?Africa economy is growing at unprecedented speed, write the authors of Africa 2030. ne of the core challenges as African countries continue to grow
and develop is energy: meeting rising demand for power, transport and other uses in a way that is economically sustainable and safeguards livelihoods. he report identifies four key modern technologies as having the ighest deployment potentialsfor Africa modern biomass for cooking
, hydropower, wind, and solar power. Specifically, the authors of the report believe that renewable energy could transform the continent electricity sector by pushing the share of renewables in the electricity mix to 50%by 2030
if the report suggestions are implemented. Hydropower and wind could each grow to around 100 GW capacity,
while solar could grow to around 70 GW, resulting in an overall tenfold renewable energy capacity increase,
and a reduction of 310 megatonnes of CO2 in emissions by 2030. A shift to biomass-based cooking would reduce the use of traditional cook stoves by more than 60,
%and save the continent between $20 to $30 billion annually by 2030 through the reduction of health complications commonly caused by current cooking methods,
causing indoor air quality issues. apping into renewable energy resources is the only way African nations can fuel economic growth,
maximise socioeconomic development and enhance energy security with limited environmental impact, said Mr. Amin. he technologies are available,
paving the way for Africa unfettered, sustainable development. i
#Micro motors could soak up CO2 pollution in the oceans, study finds Machines that are smaller than the width of a human hair could one day help clean up carbon dioxide pollution in the oceans,
new research has found. Nanoengineers at the University of California, San diego, have designed enzyme-functionalized micromotors that rapidly zoom around in water,
remove carbon dioxide and convert it into a usable solid form. The proof of concept study represents a promising route to mitigate the build up of carbon dioxide,
a major greenhouse gas in the environment, said researchers. The team led by distinguished nanoengineering professor and chair Joseph Wang, published the work this month in the journal Angewandte Chemie."
"We're excited about the possibility of using these micromotors to combat ocean acidification and global warming,"said Virendra V. Singh, a postdoctoral scientist in Wang's research group and a co-first author of this study.
In their experiments, nanoengineers demonstrated that the micromotors rapidly decarbonated water solutions that were saturated with carbon dioxide.
Within five minutes, the micromotors removed 90 percent of the carbon dioxide from a solution of deionized water.
The micromotors were just as effective in a sea water solution and removed 88 percent of the carbon dioxide in the same timeframe."
"In the future, we could potentially use these micromotors as part of a water treatment system, like a water decarbonation plant,"said Kevin Kaufmann,
an undergraduate researcher in Wang's lab and a co-author of the study. The micromotors are essentially six-micrometer-long tubes that help rapidly convert carbon dioxide into calcium carbonate,
a solid mineral found in eggshells, the shells of various marine organisms, calcium supplements and cement.
The micromotors have an outer polymer surface that holds the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, which speeds up the reaction between carbon dioxide and water to form bicarbonate.
Calcium chloride which is added to the water solutions, helps convert bicarbonate to calcium carbonate. The fast and continuous motion of the micromotors in solution makes the micromotors extremely efficient at removing carbon dioxide from water,
"If the micromotors can use the environment as fuel, they will be more scalable, environmentally friendly and less expensive,"said Kaufmann n
#Cancer Patient Receives 3d printed Titanium Ribs & Sternum 3d printing continues to profoundly affect the modern world.
The latest incredible feat involves a 54 year old Spanish man suffering from a chest wall sarcoma a type of cancerous tumour.
In order to continue forward with his battle, the man needed both his sternum and a portion of his ribcage replaced,
something that the doctors and surgeons involved felt was handled best by this new technology. Traditionally
they would use titanium plate implants, but these often loosen over time, increasing the risk of complications down the road.
Despite the complexity to this part of the chest, Csiro Australia, in conjunction with Anatomics, stepped up to the challenge and developed exactly what the doctors ordered.
This surgery was the first of its kind, but thanks to its success it raises the bar of possibility in the ongoing relationship between 3d printing
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