Posts by — techstar

Keep reading on the move, when hiking, or a long sea journey.

This winner of a Consumer Electronics Show innovation award for 2012 is a first of its kind — a solar-powered e-reader cover. It’s not cheap but for Kindle devotees who want to be able to read late in the night while they’re on a camping trip or otherwise away from a charger, the SolarKindle promises to deliver three months of reading time under normal sunlight conditions without drawing on the Kindle’s battery.
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Mansell: one of power industry new tech stars

These are exciting times for the British microgeneration sector. Dave Sowden, chief executive of the Micropower Council has said that the UK is “the only country in the world that has a government–backed microgeneration strategy.” Some of the more recent innovations include:

Home energy management company PassivSystems has developed an iPhone app, PassivEnergy, that allows consumers to manage domestic heating from any location, as well as a secure portal that calculates energy use and finds a tariff best suited to individual needs. (more…)

Utilities have yet to turn their fire on solar feed-in

San Diego-based OneRoof Energy is making a bid for a piece of the booming market for rooftop-solar leases on homes.

Backed by $50 million in recent financing, the solar startup is approaching homeowners as they build or replace a roof, offering thin solar panels that double as roofing tiles — an aesthetic that blends in with non-solar houses.

By forging a partnership with an established roofing company, OneRoof intends to compete for market share with pioneers like SolarCity and SunRun that lease photovoltaic systems back to the customer or sell rooftop-generated power under a purchase agreement.

So-called “third-party” solar companies, which own thousands upon thousands of rooftop arrays, are thriving based on a curious anomaly of government incentives for rooftop solar.

Corporations are much better positioned than most individuals to collect and repackage government incentives, including federal investment tax credits and deductions for accelerated depreciation.  Utilities haven’t yet complained about solar in the way they once did with industrial cogeneration. Yet its still early. In time, third-party leasing and financing could remake the landscape just as off-balance-sheet project financing paved the way for independent power producers. (more…)

Beattie - future homes will be smaller

The home’s energy functions are connected to a central, Internet-capable automation system that allows lights, air conditioning, home entertainment and irrigation systems to be turned on and off remotely.

Cape Town, the home building industry is similarly exploring innovative ways to go greener and smarter.

Architect Matthew Beatty says green building principles are not being driven by environmental concerns alone. Rapidly rising operating and utility costs, electricity and water usage in particular, will force us to turn to energy-efficient buildings.

Alison - Boreholes beat the hosepipe ban

Thames Water and six other water companies in southern and eastern England have imposed hosepipe bans – but keen gardener Alison Brown can carry on regardless. Like an increasing number of homeowners, she has a plentiful supply of clean, free water from a borehole in her garden.  As the water companies focus increasingly on profits and the quality of the water continues to fall, anyone with a garden could consider providing their own household water by digging a well or borehole as it is known in the UK. (more…)

No zoning issues in the next galaxy...yet

Whether your interest is just in the journey or buying cheap land on another planet, the Final Frontier is the ultimate test of any off-grid survival systems – no chance to add an extra solar panel when you’re light years from home. (more…)

All electronics will be fried

Dangerous new groups of sunspots have unleashed a storm of huge solar flares which threaten grid connections worldwide, as astronomers predict two years of storms which could cause chaos on Earth. Airlines and energy suppliers are on alert as the largest solar storm in five years threatens to disrupt flights and power lines
Thirteen years ago these storms shut down the grid in Quebec, Canada.

It took just 92 seconds to kill the grid after solar flares bombarded the area, but far worse could be in store.  Brilliant scientist and sun-forecaster John Kappenman, a former energy company employee who now runs his own consultancy, says that in the event of a mega-flare which takes out  Earth’s power supplies, most other critical infrastructures such as water and food supplies will begin to crumble within a few hours.
But not all electricity sources will be equally affected. (more…)

Obama praises Nellis - unaware of flaws

Off-Grid.net has written many stories over the years about the US military’s early-adoption of off-grid energy strategies.  But some army and USAF bases are stymied by the big energy companies when it comes to readying themselves for a big outage caused by anything from solar storms to terrorist attacks.

A recent report from Nevada by Greenwire focuses on a base that carries out some of the Air Force’s most advanced work, including testing and flying drones.The 140 acres of solar panels at Nellis Air Force Base’s 14.2 megawatt array are useless when commercial power is out, thanks to a provision in the agreement with the local utility that lets NV Energy turn off the array if the grid power goes down.

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BEWARE RENEWABLE ENERGY SCAMMERS

If you are lucky enough to have access to fast moving water on your land, you can use it to generate power.  And there are free plans available on the web for DIY water powered generators (see below).  But be careful only to go to recommended sites.  Bogus companies like Earth4Energy has affiliate deals sweeping the net, selling worthless e-books for $30-75.   Yes, they will refundyour money if you complain, but 70% do not bother. (more…)