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Entries Tagged as 'solar'

Solar panels to the WH roof: will the oft-promised bone be served up in the Second Obama Administration?

January 19th, 2013 · 1 Comment

The White House roof remains without solar electric panels despite Administration promises that this would have occurred well before now. While putting a few kilowatts (or even a few tens of kilowatts) of solar systems on the White House will have miniscule direct impact on the nation’s energy system, the symbolism remains important.
With this [...]

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Tags: Solar Energy · solar

New Yorkers & Californians have rights all Americans should have when it comes to solar power

January 7th, 2013 · No Comments

The investment world is, well, truly a mess. To raise funds in the truly open market, companies have to have huge (HUGE) amounts of resources invested in lawyers, paperwork, and otherwise. This is important to reduce the chance for outright fraud (pyramid schemes) like in the 1000s of ‘make a million off this penny [...]

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Tags: Energy · solar

100 / 100 / 100: Some hot renewable energy news …

October 25th, 2012 · 1 Comment

100 … 100 percent.  Such a ’round’ and definitive figure provides the basis for a very clear, simple target to think about.
With all the delays toward action related to climate mitigation and the mounting impacts of climate disruption around the globe, the concept of 80 by 50 (80 percent reduction carbon emissions by 2050 — [...]

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Tags: Energy · Solar Energy · electricity · renewable energy · solar · wind power

The power of niche: Solar displacing diesel for a nation’s electricity supply

July 26th, 2012 · No Comments

Writ large, around the world, liquid fuel (generally diesel) has a relatively small role in providing electricity and thus the “oil” and “electricity” domains have a minimal overlap. There are, however, exceptions that are notable generally in being “islands”. These islands can be temporal (power supply disruption leading to use of generators while the [...]

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Tags: Energy · renewable energy · solar

A Sunny Penthouse for NYC

September 30th, 2011 · No Comments

One of the nation’s most important (and sadly too little discussed) intercollegiate competitions is nearing its conclusion in Washington, DC: the biennial Solar Decathlon.  19 University teams from around the globe are competing in 10 (hint, ‘decathlon) arenas to determine the overall winner. Lost amid, perhaps, the fanfare is that every single one of the [...]

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Tags: Energy · Solar Energy · solar · solar decathlon

Killing or Creating The Future: Solar’s three act drama on the Mall

September 28th, 2011 · No Comments

A drama is playing out at two ends of the National Mall … with a question mark between them.
One act is receiving massive news attention while the intermission and other act rests in obscurity for most Americans.
The center piece, almost like an intermission, is uncertain and perhaps cloudy about the finale.
One act [...]

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Tags: Energy · President Barack Obama · Solar Energy · political symbols · politics · solar · solar decathlon

Cost-Effective Renewable Power Homes

September 27th, 2011 · 2 Comments

One of the nation’s most important (and sadly too little discussed) intercollegiate competitions is on in Washington, DC: the biennial Solar Decathlon. Open to the public for a few more days (through 2 October), the Decathlon brings together 19 university teams from around the globe to compete across ten categories (thus, “decathlon”). (A review of [...]

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Tags: Energy · Solar Energy · solar · solar decathlon

A Solyndra Showcase in Washington, DC

September 21st, 2011 · No Comments

While members of Congress are raising h-ll about the Solyndra bankruptcy along with many who are forgetting that they once touted Solyndra as the future, just a little distance away, Solandra technology is powering an absolutely gorgeous home available for public visit for the coming two weeks.
This house, the University of Tennessee’s Living Light, [...]

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Tags: Energy · Solar Energy · solar · solar decathlon

Bright Rays of Sunshine Hit DC: A preview of The Solar Decathlon

September 19th, 2011 · 4 Comments

One of the nation’s most important (and sadly too little discussed) intercollegiate competitions is about to open in Washington, DC: the biennial Solar Decathlon.  For two weeks, 19 university teams from around the globe will compete across ten categories (thus, “decathlon”) that show the house works (can they get household chores and tasks done, like [...]

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Tags: Energy · Solar Energy · alternative energy · architecture · renewable energy · solar · solar cooking · solar decathlon · sustainability

A CHIP shot at a better future?

September 16th, 2011 · 2 Comments

One of the nation’s most important — and sadly too little discussed — intercollegiate competitions is about to open in Washington, DC: the the biennial Solar Decathlon.  For two weeks, twenty university teams from around the globe will compete across ten categories (thus, “decathlon”) that show the house works (can they get household chores and [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Energy · Solar Energy · solar · solar decathlon