Solar Sunday is my weekly roundup of renewable energy and energy efficiency news from around the web.
Two Berkeley homeowners received checks for their new solar panels on Friday, becoming the first to flip the switch on the city’s much-ballyhooed, closely watched solar financing program.“I’m a guinea pig, but there’s no way I could have afforded solar otherwise,” said Jeanne Pimentel, an editor who has 11 solar panels on her Allston Way home. “Because of this, I can help solve our energy problem without putting any money up front.”
Berkeley’s program allows property owners to pay for solar panels through a 20-year assessment on their property taxes. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. rebates and new tax breaks guaranteed in the federal stimulus package reduce the cost further, so most homeowners begin saving on electric bills immediately.
Twelve states, including New York, Washington and Colorado, and 50 California cities, including San Francisco and San Diego, are following Berkeley’s model and are closely watching how the program unfolds.
Should you ever find yourself being pursued by the NYPD, now you can rest assured that the carbon footprint of your chase around the city will be just a little bit greener. As part of New York’s efforts to go green, the NYPD is rolling out 40 2009 Nissan Altima Hybrids for use during regular patrol. The vehicles get around 35 miles per gallon, which is about twice of the range of the current fleet of Chevy Impalas and Ford Crown Victorias.
Just last week we brought you news of the Blue-Earth, Samsung’s new solar powered touch phone. Well, it turns out that they are not the only company with solar dreams. Chinese mobile manufacturer ZTE recently revealed the Coral-200, a solar-powered handset with one very unique characteristic that sets it apart from its competitor: it will only cost 40 dollars!
Largescale Wind Power Proven Viable
Research by TU Delft proves that Dutch power stations are able to cope at any time in the future with variations in demand for electricity and supply of wind power, as long as use is made of up-to-date wind forecasts. PhD candidate Bart Ummels also demonstrates that there is no need for energy storage facilities. Ummels will receive his PhD on this topic on Thursday 26 February.Wind is variable and can only partially be predicted. The large-scale use of wind power in the electricity system is therefore tricky. PhD candidate Bart Ummels MSc. investigated the consequences of using a substantial amount of wind power within the Dutch electricity system. He used simulation models, such as those developed by Dutch transmission system operator TenneT, to pinpoint potential problems (and solutions).
His results indicate that wind power requires greater flexibility from existing power stations. Sometimes larger reserves are needed, but more frequently power stations will have to decrease production in order to make room for wind-generated power. It is therefore essential to continually recalculate the commitment of power stations using the latest wind forecasts. This reduces potential forecast errors and enables wind power to be integrated more efficiently.
