Greening San Francisco

ABC World News Tonight did this story on the Greening of San Francisco. It quickly covers a raction of the great things going on here, including the green roof of the new Academy of Sciences; the new solar panels on Giants Stadium; and the new PUC building powered by wind, solar and water powered elevators.

Read transcript here
Watch Video Here

COST BARRIERS: Rent your own solar panels

In our projects, there are now only three items where cost is still a barrier to greening the building:

1. Specifying FSC Certified Wood.
This important Certification (demonstrating wood to be sustainably harvested, still adds a 20% upcharge to the cost of your wood framing. This is a tough sell to most clients, but we try to do it anyway. TIP: save money in one area, say removing the need for air conditioning, and divert that money towards the purchase of FSC Certified Wood instead.

2. Carbon Neutrality.
Innovative Carbon Trading programs now exist for both your car and your home, such as the TerraPass and DriveNeutral. While these are great ways to make yourself Carbon Neutral, they represent a small, but additional, cost that is a tough sell for many.

AND 3. Solar Panels.
While everyone seems to understand the obvious benefits and uses of Solar Panels, the cost can often be prohibitive. Even with the great State Incentives that exist for solar, and an average payback of 5-7 years, the $20,000 average up front cost is too much.

But now, a rental program called REnU is removing this barrier to entry. Delaware-based Citizenre, a renewable energy development group, will rent solar panels to US residents on a per-kilowatt basis on a one, five, or twenty-five year contract. With a tiny $500 deposit, paid back at the end of the contract WITH interest, homeowners can easily and inexpensively make the switch from local utilities to solar power. What’s more, Citizenre acquires all necessary permits for residential installation, making the process simple. I have not tried it yet, but I have already begun the process.

New Solar Cell Breaks the “40 Percent Efficient” Sunlight-to-Electricity Barrier

*WASHINGTON, DC* –
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander Karsner today announced that with DOE funding, a concentrator solar cell produced by Boeing-Spectrolab has recently achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of 40.7 percent, establishing a new milestone in sunlight-to-electricity performance. This breakthrough may lead to systems with an installation cost of only $3 per watt, producing electricity at a cost of 8-10 cents per kilowatt/hour, making solar electricity a more cost-competitive and integral part of our nation's energy mix.

These are the kind of breakthrus we need!

Full Story

Google's Solar System

That example of how a huge multinational corporation SHOULD be run, Google, is beginning installation of 1.6 megawatt solar photovoltaic system at their Mountain View campus.

This project will be the largest solar installation on any corporate campus in the U.S., if not the world. The panels will cover the roofs of the main buildings of the Googleplex.

The amount of electricity that will be generated is equivalent to powering about 1,000 average California homes, offsetting approximately 30% of their electricity consumption.

More here

The skinny on solar energy costs

The costs and innovative uses of solar energy are examined in this clip from "The Power of the Sun," narrated by John Cleese.

Watch the Video Here

Make your own Solar Power

For only $350 you too can make your own solar power for a specific appliance or device in your home or office.

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'invisible' solar panels?

Home builders switch on the 'invisible' solar panels
Now that solar panels aren't the ugly ducklings of architecture, home developers are touting solar energy as the latest feature in new homes.

FULL STORY

Cheap solar using holograms?

Prism Solar Technologies in New York has developed a proof-of-concept solar module that uses holograms to concentrate light, possibly cutting the cost of solar modules by as much as 75 percent, making them competitive with electricity generated from fossil fuels. Currently, the approach to overcoming this cost factor of silicon-based solar panels is to concentrate light from the sun using mirrors or lenses, thereby reducing the total area of silicon needed to produce a given amount of electricity. But traditional light concentrators are bulky and unattractive -- less than ideal for use on suburban rooftops.

Prism's solar concentration is achieved using a hologram sealed between two pieces of glass. Very clever idea and it creates a beautiful rainbow pattern...

The Solar Jellyfish?

Here is the latest model of one of our current projects. it is an addition to a very small existing house. The walls are made from ICF's and have a super high insulation value of R-34. The building is oriented to the sun, not the street. The windows frame views. Of course, non-toxic finishes, paints and adhesives used throughout. The screen on the west side is a sun shade made of bamboo. Solar panels and a water catchment system are also included. Although it is not even started construction, it is already being featured in Innovative Home Magazine. Our client refers to it as a jellyfish (sometimes octapus) based on the shape of the floor plan.

breaking news:
Solar could meet 26 percent global energy demand by 2040