Author: Guest Contributor

Responding to a Trillion-Dollar Call to Retrofit Buildings

13 years ago Guest Contributor 1 Comment

The serial entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson brought to life an international need and business opportunity centered on thermally upgrading existing buildings, the world’s biggest users of energy. NYC’s Empire State Building was able to reduce its energy use by 40% thanks to a retrofit. Sir Richard founded the “Carbon War Room” based in Washington D.C. to unite international entrepreneurs, business leaders, researchers, policy experts, thinkers, to focus on solutions, not rhetoric, in efforts to tangibly combat climate change while creating 1000’s of “green” jobs.

Falling Solar Panel Costs are Great for Buyers, Bad for Producers (sort of)

13 years ago Guest Contributor 3 Comments

A recent industry analysis by Lux Research projects the amount of solar power installed is to grow 15.5 percent per year, but revenues are to stay flat, until 2016. A report from Navigant Consulting discovered that the price of solar panels is down almost 20 percent as of August 2011. The information derived from these two reports show that the consumer is poised to benefit from the price reduction, while manufacturers can expect an almost flat profit margin for the next few years.

Hybrid Capacitors Provide Long-lasting Energy to LED Lights

13 years ago Guest Contributor 2 Comments

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) provide long-life lighting technology that powers flashlights, street signs and medical devices. LEDs have bright output with low input power, making them much more energy efficient than their incandescent predecessors. Hybrid capacitors, a combination of an ultracapacitor and a lithium-ion battery, are an ideal choice for LEDs because the low energy and power of LEDs allows hybrid capacitors to be a longer term energy source than alternative energy storage solutions on the market. Other benefits of LEDs to lighting include little to no required maintenance.

Organic Rankine Cycle: The Evolution of Water

13 years ago Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Industry can’t exist without water. Producing anything involves heat. When you’re a manufacturing facility, you’re lucky to be pushing out exhaust heat at less than 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

It costs water to make steel, water to make cement, even water to make solar PV panels and wind turbines. And then it costs water to continue to run things. For example, your average solar parabolic plant sucks up between 760 and 920 gallons for every megawatt hour produced. (Editor’s Note: wind and solar PV use a ton less than other power generation options, though.)