The Alternative Energy blog – green renewable alternative energy

A device out of Stanford University is promising to revolutionise solar panel technology by being able to harness the power of both light and heat.

Scientists have always used both light and heat from the sun to produce energy, however, they hadn’t yet discovered a way to efficiently utilize both simultaneously – until now!

Most accountable renewable energy invokes the following: *Solar Radiation *Wind Power *Wave Power *Hydroelectricity *Biomass And only a fraction of the radiation gathered from the sun is really used but scientists at Stanford have found a way to crack this with their Photon Enhanced Thermionic Emission device, or PETE device.

What a PETE device ultimately does is simultaneously combine light and heat from solar radiation, which helps to produce electricity from solar technology. In technical terms, photon enhanced thermionic emission is a process that harvests wasted heat and solar energy and brings together thermal and solar cell conversion at high temperature levels for the best and cleanest results.

What this means is that unlike most solar panels, which have decreased efficiency as the temperature rises, the PETE technology process creates panels that work the other way and actually increase efficiency as the temperature rises.

This is not only a state of the art technology but could potentially reduce the costs for the production of solar power to the point of where it could be a real competitor against oil as a source of energy.

Real world practical solutions like PETE provide for greater sustainability and are a minuscule step towards ultimately lowering earth’s carbon footprint.

Author:  Jack Lundee
- Follower of the Clinton Global Initiative, brainchild of Doug Band.

JR Ewing, the worlds most ruthless oil baron, is now promoting solar power. He has turned his back on black gold and starring in an advert for solar panels.

Almost 20 years after hanging up his trademark 10-gallon hat in the TV drama Dallas, actor Larry Hagman is reprising his most famous role in an advertisement for SolarWorld, a German-based manufacturer of solar panels.

In the ad, JR Ewing says the oil industry has become  “too dirty”, prompting a search for another money making opportunity.

“In the past it was always about the oil. The oil was flowing and so was the money,” he says.

“But I’m still in the energy business. There’s always a better alternative,” he adds, gazing up at the roof of his California mansion covered in solar panels and flashing a grin of perfect sparkling teeth.

In real life Hagman, 78, is a keen green. In 2003 his mountaintop home near Santa Barbara, was fitted with the country’s largest residential solar power system in 2003, reportedly cutting the actor’s annual electricity bill from $37,000 (£24,000) to $13.

The panels on his 46 acre estate soak up so much sun that he is frequently able to sell power generated by them back to his local electricity company.

Hagman says he decided to film the 30-second advertisement after becoming angry at the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

“With all that oil gushing away in the Gulf I figured it was time to call for a new direction in where we’re getting our energy,” he told the New York Times.

“Since Sarah Palin is saying ‘Drill, baby, drill’ I’m saying ‘Shine, baby, shine’. It’s a lot cheaper and cleaner.”

TAKE a trip around emerging Asia these days and you won’t just see skyscrapers and coal-fired power plants growing out of places where there were once nothing but fields. Wind turbines, solar energy plants, incinerator manufacturers, water treatment plants and microirrigation developments are just as likely to spring up before your eyes.

There is now recognition in the region that sustainable growth requires tackling the environmental issues such as water scarcity and climate change that have arisen as a result of rapid population growth.

Fund managers looking for strong growth opportunities are increasingly targeting environmental and sustainable industries. Khiem Le, a manager of the Axa WF Framlington Global Environment Fund, says the opportunities in the sector mean it will enjoy plenty of demand from institutional investors, unlike other industries such as auto, media or even finance. Firms across the region such as Chinese smart meter provider Wasion, Indian microirrigation firm Jain Irrigation and Manila Water in the Philippines are benefiting as a result.

While the Axa fund is global, some funds are targeting the Asia-Pacific area specifically. Impax Asset Management launched its Asian Environmental Markets closed-end investment trust last October to do just that and Jupiter followed suit in mid-December with its China Sustainable Growth fund.

The Impax investment trust has a total fund size of £122.6m and its net asset value (NAV) has grown by 10.3 per cent since its launch. The four-month-old Jupiter open-ended fund is gently building up assets under management – it currently has around £19m.

These funds seek long-term returns, making them ideal for pension funds – the second biggest declared shareholder in Impax’s Asian Environmental Markets trust is the London Pension Fund Authority. The biggest shareholder is Invesco Perpetual, which is gaining from Impax’s environmental expertise and network in both the region and the sector. Both funds are looking to get in early and capitalise on emerging Asia’s long-term growth prospects.

Policy is also shifting, says Bruce Jenkyn-Jones, who manages the Impax fund: “We detected a sea-change in the approach of governments in the region to the [environmental] sector and the propensity to launch budgets and policies to support it.” For example, the past few years have seen Chinese wind turbine manufacturers becoming competitive with US producers, thanks in part to government support.

Fund managers looking at growing their exposure to Asian environmental markets should not try to find the perfect company. Philip Ehrmann, manager of the Jupiter China Sustainable Growth fund, says that in an environment which is so young and where there is so much change, you won’t find them. “We are seeking companies which make money as a result of becoming leaders in their fields and contributing towards sustainable growth,” he explains. “As they make progress, so do you and you can increase your exposure.”

UK: From today British home owners can  earn money for the electricity solar PV produces under the feed-in tariff (also known as ‘clean energy cash-back’).

The feed-in tariffs have been a long time coming but they have already increased demand and you can earn up to 8% return on investment.

The tax free, index linked payments work on two levels:

• Generation tariff – depending on the size of panels, you are paid per kilowatt hour (kWh) of metered energy that panels generate, regardless of whether you use that energy or sell it to the grid. A typical solar system of less than 4 kWp will produce 41.3p per kWh.
• Export tariff – whatever size panels you have, you can choose to receive either 3p per kWh of electricity or sell it on the open market.

Depending on your energy usage you may need to draw extra electricity from the grid, but the EST say a 2.5 kWp system could produce half a home’s heating needs. Ed Miliband, Energy and Climate Secretary says: “The guarantee of getting an income on top of saving on energy bills will be an incentive to those wanting to make the move to low carbon living. ”

The largest solar-powered boat in the world is set to launch. The catamaran PlanetSolar enjoys stats are: weight: 60-ton, a 470-square-meter are covered by 38,000 solar cells to generate 103.4 kW of energy. 18 million euro ($24.4 million) was spent to adorn this beauty in environmentally friendly way.

PlanetSolar the world's largest solar panel boat

PlanetSolar runs on 38,000 black photovoltaic cells tprovided by SunPower Corporation.  The solar panels have a pretty decent conversion rate of 22%.

PlanetSolar will launch this month from the Knierim Yacht Club in Kiel, Germany.

UK: Families can earn £900 a year by installing solar panels on their roofs as part of a new Government scheme to pay people to generate their own electricity.

Under the deal, which will start from April this year, households will be paid for electricity fed into the grid from renewable technologies such as solar, wind or energy from waste.

The most attractive rate of return will be on solar panels, which for an average sized three bedroom home could earn households £25,000 over 25 years.

Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, expects one in 10 homes will have installed renewable power on their homes in the next decade expects  with the number of homes  with solar panels alone rising from 10,000 today to 700,000 by 2020.

He pointed out that the payments would be tax-free and a return of up to 9 per cent annually was better than any bank could provide.

However campaigners said the scheme, that will add around £11 on the average household bill by 2020 as electricity companies recoup the costs from everyone, is just another “green tax”.

The deal, called feed-in tariffs, will ensure that any households or building that invest in installing renewable electricity, should be paid a good rate of return. People who currently have solar panels must do a deal with their electricity company. The panels cannot provide a home’s entire energy needs as they only work in daylight and the energy they generate cannot be stored. When they are generating electricity, any surplus goes straight into the national grid.

“The guarantee of getting an income on top of saving on energy bills will be an incentive to householders and communities wanting to make the move to low carbon living,” said Miliband.

“The feed-in tariff will change the way householders and communities think about their future energy needs, making the payback for investment far shorter than in the past.

“It will also change the outlook for a range of industries, in particular those in the business of producing and installing small scale low carbon technology.”

Solar panels get the best rate of return under the feed-in tariff, followed by wind turbines and hydroelectric.

Installing solar panels, which cover a space of around 10ft x 10ft on an average sized roof, will cost around £12,500 but this will be paid back in10 years because the households will be paid £900 per annum, plus making £140 savings on the yearly electricity bill.

Mr Miliband also introduced a renewable heat incentive that will pay households for producing their own heat from woodchip boilers or an air source heat pump. A ground source heat pump, that costs more than £1,000 to put in, could be rewarded with £1,000 a year and lead to savings of £200 per year if used instead of oil.

John Sauven, Executive Director of Greenpeace UK, welcomed the scheme but said rates are still too low for communities to invest in expensive long term schemes like hydro electric on rivers or larger turbines.

“For many families, generating their own clean electricity will be an attractive investment,” he said. “However, the level of ambition set by the government’s Feed-in Tariff is still far too low if we are to reach the full potential of small scale renewables.”

Landowners and farmers are angry that the Government has set the rate for energy generated from waste or anaerobic digestion, that could be installed on many farms, so low.

China is set to rule the global solar panel market having already captured a third of the world market.

The credit crunch has hit solar power companies  in the West, but not Chinese firms.   They have taken advantage of the moment to flood the world with solar panels, driving down the retail price from $4.20 per watt last year to nearer $2 in what some say is a cut-throat drive for market share.

In addition Suntech Power from Wuxi has just broken the world record for capturing photovoltaic solar energy, achieving a 15.6pc conversion rate with a commercial-grade module.

The UK  can achieve grid parity for households by 2013, seven years sooner than expected says Jeremy Leggett, founder of Britain’s Solar Century. 

Its is believed that south-facing roofs and facades in Britain could one day provide a third of UK electricity needs.

Householders convinced that the UK does not have enough sunshine to effectively use solar panels are ‘wrong’, according to a domestic solar panel advisor.

The UK energy advisor Heat my Home has explained that the panels operate on solar radiation not sun rays and the UK gets enough of this to run solar.

Stuart Lovatt of Heat my Home said: “One unique selling point with solar is the longevity. A good quality system will easily last 30 years, so the long-term benefits of solar are obvious.

“How many things today can you buy with such a long lifespan, but solar does, and this makes it a perfect investment if you are thinking long-term such as retirement.”

Germany is the biggest installer of solar panels in Europe and shares a similar climate to that in the UK, both of which receive around 60 per cent of the solar radiation levels the equator does.

 A supply glut of polysilicon—the key raw material used in photovoltaic solar panels—promises cheaper solar panels in the years to come. In the short term the price drop has led to many solar panel manufacturers suffering large losses but analysts are hopeful the lower prices will make the technology more competitive with conventionally generated power.

The drop in polysilicon, though hurting earnings now, will be beneficial over the long termas it will make solar a more competitively priced alternative to other forms of power and boosts demand. In an Aug. 13 research note, UBS  analyst Robin Cheng said she expects photovoltaic electricity to be competitive with power from the grid by 2010 in those parts of Europe and the U.S. that get more regular sunshine, and by 2014 in regions that experience more cloud cover.