Life Alternate » solar energy

Egypt Goes with Wind and Solar Energy

Wispa — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:28:06 +0000

The North African country of Egypt has long term plans for renewable energy. Using both Wind and Solar Energies the country hoped to make use of its ideal location in the African Continent.

The initial target of generating renewable energy will be 12 percent of it’s demands from wind energy alone. This ambitious project would see over 2,500 megawatts of wind generating turbines over the next five years.

In addition to wind power, Egypt has it`s eyes on solar energy. Up to 1 Megawatt is planned for solar energy production to be completed over a ten year period.

This month will see the inauguration of Egypt`s first Solar Thermal power station. Located in Koraimat, the plant will produce around 140 megawatts of energy.

Egypt and many other Countries in North Africa and the Middle East are ideally suited for Renewable Energy production with regular wind direction and one of the highest rates of sunshine in the world.

This puts these countries at an advantage for energy exports. Alongside the construction of renewable energy facilities will be the infrastructure for connecting Egypt to Europe as a likely customer.

Hong Kong Solar Powered Island

Wispa — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 06:48:44 +0000

Hong Kong has it’s first community powered by renewable energy. A little Island off the east coat of the region in Sai Kung is host to the Dawn Island Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center which up until now has been powered by generators.

Connecting the Island to the Country’s energy grid would not have been practical and the answer was to turn to Solar Power and Wind Energy.

China Light and Power (CLP) is installing the panels and wind turbines which is hoped to supply just under 200kW of electricity. This will enable the facility on the island to power the much needed air conditioning units for the residents. Previously they suffered in the heat with the constant unreliable generators which also pumped CO2 into the atmosphere.

The Dawn Community offers Drug users an opportunity to clean themselves up and what a better way to get clean than with clean energy.

The Hong Kong region comprises of around 200 islands and many of them are inhabited. For these small communities renewable energy installations, like solar and wind, would offer them a cleaner and alternative supply of energy.

Over all there are 7 million residents in Hong Kong. Mostly living in high rise blocks situated close the the sea. The majority of the land is mountainous or forest and is not ideally suited for large scale Solar Power Plants.

Philadelphia Eagles Convert to Renewables

Wispa — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:20:00 +0000

The Philadelphia Eagles football team are used to running around on the green grass and using a lot of energy. Now they are about the change the meanings of green and energy.

In a move to be more energy efficient the home stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, is to be fitted out with a renewable energy makeover. Covering the stadium with around 2,500 Photovoltaic Solar panels to capture some of that solar energy to produce electricity will be quite a large task for some projects. But the Eagles are not stopping there, along with the solar they plan to harvest the wind with the installation of 80 wind turbines.

To complete the project generators will be fitted that can run both on natural gas and biodiesel. For all this the cost will be around US$30 Million which is quite a large sum, but they expect to save double that amount (US$60 million) in energy costs over the next 20 years.

The Solar and Wind energy generated will be around 25% of the stadiums needs with the remainder being produced by gas/biodiesel generators.

Solar Powered Mobile Network on Mount Everest

Wispa — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:44:11 +0000

Not getting a signal on your Mobile Phone should soon be a thing of the past. This even applies for those hardy enough to venture into the high remote regions of the Himalayas.

Mount Everest is now covered by a mobile signal that will allow travelers to call home and let the folks know that it’s a little bit cold today. The 3G signals have been installed by Ncell which also provide Mobile phone services and internet access across the rest of Nepal.

The mobile base stations are Solar powered with enough battery backup power to last for a few days of cloud cover. This will be a welcome service for the 30,000 people who make the journey each year to the regions vast mountain range allowing them to keep in touch.

These are harsh regions of the world and the effects are not just limited to people. The batteries in our phones and computers, the Lithium Ion, do not perform well under extreme cold condition so remember to keep those calls short. In addition any respectful traveler will venture in to remote regions already equipped with their own personal Solar Charging Devices.

Solar and Wind Power Calls to India

Wispa — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 05:30:58 +0000

The Indian Mobile Phone company Airvoice Group and the public sector body Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam have joined in a venture to use Wind Energy and Solar Power to produce 13GW of power in India.

Karnataka district located in the southwest of India is the region for the development. Using multiple sites for the development project aims to produce up to 10 GW of energy by solar power. Using Solar Photovoltaic arrays to capture the suns rays and with just 3 GW being produce by wind power.

The project is estimated to take up to ten years to complete and will cost around $50 billion. The project is being build in multiple phases with the initial constructions due to start shortly. These will have a capacity of 200 MW generated by wind turbines and 100 MW produced by solar arrays.

For comparison 13 GW of energy would be the equivalent of between 20 to 30 coal powered power stations.

Unfortunately there will be no reduction in CO2 emissions as these are not replacing power station. The world is still demanding more energy and the uptake of renewable forms of energy is still slowly building its capacity.

This is still good news for India who badly needs energy and if a large portion of that demand cam be met by projects such as this then the nation will be better of fin the long run. India, like China, is embracing these new forms of energy and forging ahead with large scale projects as well as smaller capacity generation which will bring much needed benefits to the smaller villages in India.

Israeli Air Force Powered by Solar Energy

Wispa — Thu, 06 May 2010 07:09:10 +0000

The Air Force of Israel is exploring the idea of having their air bases powered by solar energy. They join a lengthening list of military and governmental organizations around the world that are looking to the future with the aim of energy security.

Solar Array

There is no doubt that energy in the future is going to be a high demand product and there is a push to enable operation to continue without being held hostage by the lack of overseas fuel supplies.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) are in tender for photovoltaic solar installations to be installed in their bases that would produce up to 50 kilowatts of electricity. This would be enough to completely supply the needs of some of the bases with the excess energy fed back in to the national grid. A second round of installations for large bases would produce up to 5 megawatts of energy.

Some nations are realizing that a dependence of fossil fuel is going to become more problematic as the years go on. Using solar energy, either in photovoltaic solar cells or solar thermal, is an ideal option for many nations especially those that have a heavy reliance on imported energy fuel.

Recently the US military have taken this a step further with experiments in alternate fuels for powering their aircraft and ships. These are not a total answer but can help reduce consumption.

If the military is embracing solar energy then it is probably something we should all think about. They do no always make the right choices or have the right reasons but quite possibly they are in the right direction with energy security. We can all have part of this by reducing our reliance on outside sources and thinking about alternate supplies. Solar Energy is and idea candidate for nearly all parts of the world to help reduce our dependence.

China Bathes in Solar Energy

Wispa — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:18:27 +0000

China being “quite a large country” has the advantage of that over two thirds of this area can be utilized for solar energy production with around 2000 hours of sunshine every year. This has not gone unnoticed and both domestic and overseas developments are taking place and some on quite a large scale.

sunset china

Applied Materials , a US based company, are the latest in a long line of overseas corporations setting up bases in China. With the establishment of a solar power technology centre in Xi’an, Shaanxi Provence, Applied Materials aim to boost the research and development of thin film solar technology and crystal solar panels along with the training of engineers in the solar power field.

As one of the largest suppliers to the semiconductor industry, Applied Materials hopes to further increase its share of the solar power energy market.

First Solar has been given the go-ahead to build a solar energy production site in Ordos, Inner Mongolia by the Chinese government. The projects is estimated to take 10 years to build and will have a capacity of 2,000 MW of solar produced electricity. This would be the equivalent output of 2 or 4 coal power stations and without the environmental hazards such as CO2 pollution and hazards of coal mining.

Along with solar energy, China is also embracing wind technology. A 20 megawatt wind development is planned in Gansu Provence. It is hoped that the first stage will be online by the end of 2010 with a capacity of 5 megawatt of wind energy being produced.

Away from the large scale production, Beijing has set up the “Sunshine School Project”. The aim here is to build 100 energy efficient schools. Starting with solar powered lighting and displays. The project develops further with the utilization of solar energy for hot water and heating. These smaller scale energy saving projects will demonstrate that solar energy can be utilized for more remote areas to being some comforts to villages without the need for massive electrical production. This and the education of the school children of environmentally friendly products should produce the a next generation of Chinese more aware of the hazards of using non renewable energy.

With China is still a large polluter with a large number of coal power stations. It does seem that the country is embracing renewable energies without taking the easy way out and relying totally on coal power.

Solar Energy Cost goes Down

Wispa — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:41:11 +0000

A recent study by the US, Lawrence Berkeley Nation Lab on the cost of solar energy installations has dropped by over 30% in the years 1998 to 2008. The price per watt was just over US$12 in 1998 and has decreased to under US$8 by last year.

The study covers all types and sizes of photovoltaic solar generation and indicated a wide overall difference for large and small scale systems. For under 2 Kilowatt the price was US$9.2 per watt and for larger systems over 500 Kilowatt this reduced to and average of US$6.5 per watt.

Rooftop Solar Panel

The solar generating capacity has show dramatic increases from under 0.2 megawatt to over 800 megawatt in 2008. The price drop will no doubt continue for the years to come but this will also see a reduction in incentives as the industry becomes mature and self sustaining.

Over the Atlantic in Germany the market is already maturing and there an expected price drop of 10% in the next year.

This raises a dilemma for those wishing to install solar energy for the purpose of saving costs. Should you wait until next year when the price has gone down or should you take the plunge now. Incentives and rebates will not last forever and are already being reduced in some areas. Each year you delay means you are paying more than you need for your electrical power use.

For those who live in locations that are not grid connected then they choice is already made. Installing solar energy has never been cheaper than it is now and there cannot be may ways that are clean and friendly to the environment that also let you enjoy the benefits of electrical power.

First Solar|China 2 Gigawatt Solar Plant

Wispa — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:18:26 +0000

US-Based, First Solar and the Chinese government have proposed a massive 2 Gigawatt photovoltaic solar panel plant making this the biggest project of its type.

The planned solar power plant will be huge, ultimately covering an area of 25 square miles. The power output will be enough to power around three million homes when completed and will have the generating capacity of two large coal power station but without all the nasty pollution and dangers associated with mining coal.

The solar power station will be built north of Beijing in the outer Mongolian desert with panels produce in China by a newly build First Solar plant.

China has taken steps to aggressively promote solar energy along with other renewable as sources of electricity. A single plant on this scale would cost around US$6 billion if it were build in the USA, With reduced labour costs in China along with the governments feed in tariffs the final cost will be much lower.

Solar Array

Completion of the solar plant is expected in 2019 with phases of the plant coming online as they are completed. The first phase is expected to be a 30 Megawatt demonstration project early in 2010. This will be followed by a second facility capable of producing 100 Megawatt of clean energy.

China is ideally placed to take advantage of solar energy, with large tracts of land unsuitable for agriculture. Along with large scale solar energy, China has implemented a policy of increasing the amount of electrical production by renewable energy and it seems to have started on a large scale.

Crayola Solar Powered Crayons

Wispa — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:17:14 +0000

Our children are going to inherit this planet from us at some point in the future and it is our duty to try and keep it as clean as possible. From an early age our kids should realize the power and benefit of clean energy.

A favourite of every kid and some adults is coloring books and for that we need crayon. Everybody is quite familiar with the brand Crayola and it is somewhat fitting that they should embrace renewable energy.

In Forks Township, Penn. – USA. The headquarters of Crayola is hoping to go solar powered with a 1.5 megawatt solar energy park. This small, but hopefully first, step in to clean energy will power around 10% of the energy needs. This is roughly equivalent to the power needed to create 1 billion crayons each year.

The park will comprise of 26,000 photovoltaic solar panels and will cover and area of 15 acres.

Crayola has in its drive for efficiency managed to reduce its energy use in its manufacturing plants. By Using 19 percent less electricity and 11 percent less natural gas along with recycling up to 70 percent of its waste . Whether this was driven by economics or going green the environment is slightly less abused.

Included in the development is a US$1.5 million grant, some of which will fund an educational display of solar energy at the Crayola factory in Easton, Penn. which hosts around 300,0000 visitors each year.

In the near future your children will be having fun with solar powered crayons and hopefully be a little bit more educated than we were.