The students who participate in these events are working to send a two-fold message. They are trying to educate the public, to show them that a seemingly niche technology has the power to be a big boon for sustainable development, as well as to show them that green jobs are the way of the future.

This display of dwellings, set up right in the heart of our nation’s capitol is meant to get the attention of folks who drive themselves to work each morning, shutting their garage door, ready for a long individual commute in a vehicle that can hold seven. The message is for everyday people to see possibility.

However this year, the Decathlon was not held without its own bit of backlash towards the green community in the wake of a recently bankrupted solar company. The weather was also trying to work against the event, which opened to rainy, gloomy weather. But the students remained positive and the sun did indeed come out on the event. With it came the eco-conscious from near and far.

For self-proclaimed “greenies”, this is one of the events of the year. In addition to being solar powered, these homes are also carbon neutral. They contain energy saving appliances and the latest in efficiency technology. It is a great way to unveil the latest ideas and findings in the green engineering community. A vast array of technologies – some innovative, some downright strange – are put on display for the public to see and to be viewed for judging.

This event is just one of many that show off the bright minds of the future. As more college students are making a career in sustainable development and engineering, bigger and better ideas will be created, some that could possibly innovate new design techniques. This event is a great way to show the public just what is possible, as well as a great means for those of like-mind to get together and share their knowledge.

With the energy crisis ramping up under the summer heat, Japan has redoubled its emphasis on its “Cool Biz” campaign that has been in place since 2005 and is now renamed “Super Cool Biz” in acknowledgement of the increasing severity of the problem. Businesses are encouraged to keep thermostats set to 85F during the height of summer and to have workers shed their suits and dress shirts for khaki shorts and sandals. Offices are also encouraged to increase the telecommuting option for workers where possible, and to shift operations toward earlier morning hours.

Even with drastic energy-saving measures in place, the hopes for making severe cuts to energy consumption are not high. Japan already consumes less energy than the world average for each point of its GDP by 20% and less than the US by a whopping 30%. With shiny new cars parked behind every garage door waiting to drink the purchased oil Japan needs to make up its energy short falls, the choices aren’t getting any easier.

Everyone is cutting down to even the smallest expenditure. To do its part in conserving energy, the Ministry of Economy has even deactivated its automatic doors. As a country they’ve already improved energy efficiency by 37% in the last 30 years according to Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. It’s not like the problem is merely curbing extravagant and wasteful uses of energy. They’re looking at having to curb perfectly practical uses of energy for only the absolutely vital ones like powering hospital equipment and food storage facilities.

In the midst of all of these energy saving strategies and campaigns remains the question of what to do next. With Japanese citizens still unconvinced of the ability of their local reactors to survive an earthquake or tsunami, proponents of renewable energy are making their voices heard. With some 200 volcanoes and 28,000 hot springs, it has been estimated that the country could supply over 80,000 megawatts of electricity, enough power to meet half of the country’s energy demand. With the topography and seashores of the coast, an additional 80,000 megawatts could possibly be produced with land-based windmills.

Prior to suffering the no confidence vote in July, Japan’s Prime Minister Kan had proposed a goal of powering 10 million Japanese homes with roof top photovoltaic panels by 2020. Now, Japan has set goals even beyond Kan’s proposal and aims to increase the total PVC panel output of the country from 3,500 megawatts in 2010 to 53,000 megawatts in 2030 and to power18 million Japanese homes by that year.

Japan’s nuclear proponents and those attached to the already existing nuclear infrastructure will not easily let go of nuclear possibilities, and with the heat of summer creeping in, it seems the main direction Japan turns for electricity will be decided in the coming months. The visions of an environmentally friendly 2030 are nice, but the sweat of the summer of 2011 may help worried citizens decide they don’t mind their local reactor so much after all.

Whether the reactors are restarted or not, the hopes for nuclear expansion have most likely been forever dashed in Japan, and whatever direction the country turns for meeting further power demand will most likely include a diversified portfolio of earth friendly technology.

Masayoshi Son, Japan’s wealthiest man, has started a research foundation for renewables backed by his own investment money, and so far the foundation has been honored to list 37 of the country’s 45 prefectures as founding members. The situation is ripe for leaps in innovation that could perhaps pave the way for the rest of the world to follow. As the temperature climbs, the whole world watches and waits to see what Japan’s next step will be, and if it’s one the rest of us could possibly follow.

On average, electric bills have increased over 7% each year during the last 20 years. Solar Panels have also come a long way during those twenty years as people search for alternative energy sources.

There are several factors that now play a part in determining the value a solar system has for a home or business. First, you must consider the size solar system that you would need. Just like you need a bigger garage door in your home to handle more cars, the larger your electric bill, the larger the solar system you will need. But, it doesn’t stop there. While that determines the size in kilowatt hours that would you need, it’s not the only factor that determines what the cost will be.

Solar prices have dropped recently for several reasons. First, the prices for the components have come down, and that’s a good thing. Second, there are tax credits and local incentives available that will help you pay for the cost of a system. There is currently a 30% federal tax credit good through the year 2016 that you can claim when you purchase a system. Of course, you need to have a tax liability in that amount or greater to claim it, but most people don’t have a problem meeting that. Other incentives are usually found with the local utility companies. Last year, in Nevada, NV Energy offered unusually large rebates for non-profit organizations and when combined with the federal tax credit – it didn’t cost the organization a penny – it was FREE. For homeowners the utility rebate for solar was quite a bit less. The rebate would cover about 25% of the cost for a solar installation. But, again, when combined with the federal tax credit, about 55% the cost of a system was paid for.

Now, as much as I would love to say that all these rebates are still available, most aren’t. Throughout California and Nevada the rebates were exhausted, quite literally, within hours of opening the application process online. But, don’t worry, there’s good news. Most utilities are gearing up for another round of rebates. When you factor that 55% the cost of solar can be paid for through these incentives, and you factor in the $1500-$2000 a year in electric savings you have, you can see very clearly how solar quickly pays for itself.

The clip bellow shows the best parts of the documentary Here comes the sun and is well worth taking a look at:

Greenecon.net reports:

According to the Energy Information Administration, in 1956 solar PV panels were $300 per watt, and in 1980, the average cost per solar modules was $27/watt and has fallen precipitously to approximately $2/watt in October 2009.

New breakthroughs point towards much cheaper solar panels in the near future (examples of this can be read about here, here or here), and with the emergence of nanotechnology, which already is underway, it’s reasonable to expect many new breakthroughs. But exactly when will solar energy become cheaper than conventional energy?

Solar cells are getting more and more efficient. The graph shows the best research-cell efficiencies for different types of solar cells measured in how much of the sunlight they can convert into electricity.

Ray Kurzweil, a famous inventor and futurists, predicts that this will happen within 2013. Dispatches from the Frozen North, a blog by the Peter Leppik, makes a calculation that leads him to think that in Minneapolis solar panels will be cheaper than power from the electric company in 2015, give or take a few years. Solarcentury, the UK’s largest solar company, predicts that in Britain solar energy will become cheaper or as cheap as conventional nonrenewable electricity by 2013. These are all uncertain predictions, and when it will become cheaper for you depends on where you live. But as far as I know most experts think that solar power will become cheaper than conventional energy in the near future – probably before 2020. And after that it will continue to become cheaper and cheaper. It’s a question of time before solar energy will be half the price of fossil fuels, one fifth the price, one tenth the price, etc.

Needless to say cheap solar energy will not just be good for the environment, but will also give other enormous benefits to society. And in many ways it will be more convenient than power from the grid. We will have to transport the energy less, and mobile phones, laptops, electric cars, etc. will be able to reload their batteries when they are outside in daylight. Another great thing about solar power is that it can provide cheap electricity to poor countries (in sub-Saharan Africa, etc.) where the power supply is unreliable and many villages aren’t connected to an electric grid.

Earths city lights at night. Cheap solar power can help light up poor parts of the world, where many villages aren't connected to a grid.

Making solar power cheaper and more convenient isn’t just about getting better at converting sunlight into electricity. Storing the energy is also a part of the challenge. Breakthroughs are underway in this area (examples of this can be found here and here), and batteries are generally getting better, so there is reason to be fairly optimistic. That being said, the future of solar energy would be very, very bright even if energy-storing technology didn’t get better at all.

Despite of being fantastic in a lot of ways, cheap solar energy isn’t enough by itself to completely solve the energy-problem. We also have to make sure that fueling your car on solar power is cheaper and easier than using gasoline. Although maybe not within the run of this decade, I also think that electric cars will dominate the roads sooner then we think. But this post is long enough already, so I will save that for a later update.

Also published on howisearth.wordpress.com.

The £50 billion government investment would, according to Patt, convince private companies that the supergrid idea is both “feasible” and “attractive”, the Guardian reports.

“In the long term, such a plan, combined with strings of windfarms along the north Africa coast, could “supply Europe with all the energy it needs”.

He said technological advances combined with falling costs have made it realistic to consider north Africa as Europe’s main source of imported energy.

“The sun is very strong there and it’s very reliable. There is starting to be a growing number of cost estimates of both wind and concentrated solar power for North Africa….that start to compare favourably with alternative technologies. The cost of moving [electricity] long distances has really come down.”

According to Patt only a small fraction of the Saharan desert would be needed to produce enough energy for the whole of Europe.

Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European commission’s Institute for Energy have said that the solar energy from the Saharan desert would be cheap and “below what the average consumer is paying:”

“The biggest PV system at the moment is installed in Leipzig and the price of the installation is €3.25 per watt. If we could realise that in the Mediterranean, for example in southern Italy, this would correspond to electricity prices in the range of 15 cents per kWh, something below what the average consumer is paying.”

So what are we waiting for!?

The Guardian reports that in the Andalucian deserts, 20 miles outside Seville, the Spanish company Abengoa will soon open up the world biggest solar power tower.

Over 1,000 mirrors, each “about half the size of a tennis court”, will be used to reflect sunlight to “superheat” water at a central tower. Once completed, at a cost of €80 million, the energy plant will generate 20MW of electricity to 11,000 Spanish homes.

“Concentrated solar power (CSP) technology, as it is known, is seen by many as a simpler, cheaper and more efficient way to harness the sun’s energy than other methods such as photovoltaic (PV) panels. But CSP only works in places with clear skies and strong sunshine.

The Andalucian deserts are an ideal location, and Spain hopes the PS20 plant will enable it to take advantage of its huge solar resource and lead the field in CSP technology.

“The radiation hitting the earth is 10,000 times the consumption of energy,” said José Domíngues Abascal, chief technology officer at Abengoa, the Spanish energy company behind the plant. “There is great potential in solar energy.””

The new solar tower, named PS20, is supported by the Spanish government who has promised to pay “a premium, known as a feed-in tariff, for any CSP electricity sent into the grid.” PS20 is part of Spain’s efforts to meet the clean energy targets from the European Union which calls for 20% renewable energy by 2020. Spain says that the PS20 is part of a series of planned solar power plants around Spain. Which when finished is expected to generate up to 300MW of electricity, enough to power the whole of Seville and its 700,000 citizens.

The European commission also says that the CSP technology will be a part of its future clean energy technology plan. And that the technology could become a “major part” of the proposed EU supergrid between Europe and northern Africa.

photo credit: James Bird

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration renewable energy now accounts for more than 10% of the domestically-produced energy in USA during the first half of 2008. Most of the energy comes from renewable energy sources such as biomass/biofuels, geothermal, hydropower, solar and wind.

This number can be compared to the 11.98% of energy that nuclear energy contributes to in USA. According to the SUN DAY Campaign the total consumption of nuclear power dropped by 1% during the first half of 2008 while the renewable energy increased by 5%.

“The significant contribution being made by renewable energy sources to the nation’s energy supply documented by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is far greater than most Americans realize,” said Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “Repeated statements by nuclear and fossil fuel interests that renewables contribute only a tiny fraction of the nation’s energy supply are not only misleading but flatly wrong.”

In these 10% biomass and biofuels accounts for the largest amounts of renewable energy shortly followed by hydropower. Wind power increased by almost 49% from the first half of 2007 compared to the first half of 2008. Solar and geothermal energy were at roughly the same levels in 2008 as they were in 2007. Although many predict that their share of the market will significantly increase in the near future.

The new international body will include 16 non-EU states from around the Mediterranean and all 27 EU member states. The union will focus on dealing with energy, security, counter-terrorism, immigration and trade. The union will include 756 million people from Western Europe to the Jordanian desert.

Some say that the Union was launched mainly because Nicolas Sarkozy wanted to “exchange” nuclear power expertise with North African gas reserves. Nicolas Sarkozy on the other hand says the union is supposed “to ensure the region’s people could love each other instead of making war.”

But some people are more positive and hope the union is the first steps towards large scale solar plants in northern Africa with focus of generating green and renewable electricity to Europe.

Scientists from the EU are planning for a new supergrid between the different EU member states. This new supergrid will be built using new DC (HVDC) lines which are perfect for transmissions of energy over long distances. The supergrid could allow Denmark and the UK to export wind energy and Iceland to export geothermal energy at times when production exceeds demand to other EU member states.

But the supergrids main purpose would be to transmit renewable solar energy from the Saharan desert to Europe. The scientists want to build a series of huge solar farms in the Saharan desert and connect them to the supergrid.

Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European commission’s Institute for Energy says “it would require the capture of just 0.3% of the light falling on the Sahara and Middle East deserts to meet all of Europe’s energy needs.”

According to the scientists the sunlight in Sahara could “generate up to three times the electricity compared with similar panels in northern Europe” because the sunlight in this area is so intense.

The supergrid project has been met optimistically by both politicians, like Nicholas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown, and environment organisations, such as Greenpeace.

“Assuming it’s cost-effective, a largescale renewable energy grid is just the kind of innovation we need if we’re going to beat climate change,” said Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist.

Arnulf Jaeger-Walden believes that the solar energy from the Saharan desert would be cheap and “below what the average consumer is paying:”

“The biggest PV system at the moment is installed in Leipzig and the price of the installation is €3.25 per watt. If we could realise that in the Mediterranean, for example in southern Italy, this would correspond to electricity prices in the range of 15 cents per kWh, something below what the average consumer is paying.”

The project would take many years to complete and huge investments at a total cost of around €450 billion would be needed. But the scientists expect that by 2050 solar energy from the Saharan desert could produce 100 GW. That is more than all the energy sources in the UK combined could ever generate.

The project would also help Europe to meet its own climate change commitments to generate 20% of all the energy from renewable energy sources, decrease energy consumption by 20% and reducing CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020.

SunPower has been chosen to construct the three solar plants in the state of Florida. Howard Wenger, senior vice president, global business units for SunPower, said that “these agreements confirm the growing trend in the U.S. to build solar power plants at a scale rivaling those in market-leading countries such as Germany and Spain.”

The largest of the three plants will be connected with a natural gas plant and have an effect of 75-megawatt and will be placed in Martin County on the East Coast. In DeSoto County the largest solar plant in USA will be located with an effect of 25-megawatt. The third 10-megawatt plant will be placed at the Kennedy Space Center.

He has worked with Dyesol, a Canberra-based company, trying to develop affordable transparent solar cells that act as both windows and energy generators in houses or commercial buildings.

According to John Bell the transparent solar cells will have a “faint reddish hue” and be “completely see-through.” They will also reduce carbon emissions by 50% and make “a significant difference to home and building owners’ energy costs.”

John Bell even says the house owners would be able to generate excess energy that could be sold or stored for later use.

The solar cells contain titanium dioxide coated in a dye that increases light absorption.

The glass captures solar energy which can be used to power the house but can also reduce overheating of the house, reducing the need for cooling.

He said that the solar-powered glass would be on the market in “a few years”.