Welcome to the suction cup era of solar lighting. Just last month, we discovered the PowerPlus Spider Solar Light that uses a triad of suction cups to stick to a south-facing window, providing solar-powered LED lighting at night. Turns out that was only the diminutive preamble, as this week we find the Saint Clair Lamp, a much more modern and less portable design (not for camping trips) from French architect and designer, Stephane Maupin.

The Saint Clair was a winning entry for the VIA Project Assistance Grant that seeks out young design talent and connects them with manufacturers and producers. It looks something like a thin desk lamp with a go-go-gadget neck and a rectangular LED fixture for a head. The advantage of this spindly design — the lamp is just over three feet long — is that the light can be left hanging on a window after dark and still cast direct light on a sofa, table, piece of wall art or just into the room proper.

The Saint Clair lamp comes equipped with a set of photovoltaic solar cells that collect solar energy through the window during the day. At night, it can either remain on that or some other window in the house, or, when fully charged, stand just fine on a desk or table. It is super-sleek modern white with a 12-inch-round, flying-saucer-shaped base.

The lamp runs for 45 euros (about $62), which is a hefty handful of change — more than the $8 PowerPlus Spider lamp, but I suppose you’re paying for (much) higher quality design and, I expect, better materials and components.

Story & Photos Via designboom

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Intertek is now offering a free white paper called, “Green” Revolution: What does it mean to the building products industry?  This paper covers the challenges manufacturers face when they make “green” claims about their products, and how to eliminate potential pitfalls in the process.  The paper stems from increased public scrutiny in the wake of weakened or nonexistent standards within the blossoming green industry.

Intertek also has a new Environmental Certification program, which helps manufacturers validate green claims, such as amount of recycled content, solar reflectance, emissions, and energy efficiency in order to protect their brand and reputations.  This lends a competitive advantage in the marketplace while greatly reducing in-house staff and cost because of the third-party consulting.  It is perhaps more important than ever to verify the claims of products when incorporating them into a manufacturer’s offering and this new program has been designed to streamline the process.

The new program also seeks to bring clarity to the green revolution for building products manufacturers and create an eco-label that is meaningful, trustworthy and valuable to not only manufacturers of building materials, but also to purchasers and specifiers of these products, materials and assemblies.  Essentially, it is akin to the Energy Star certification, which guarantees that a product actually does reduce energy consumption rather than just claiming so.

To download the white paper, click here.

Source: Press Release at RenewableEnergyWorld.com

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The solar revolution may be televised, but it’ll be hard to see. In the near future, the age of the solar panel may give way to the age of the solar shingle, solar window, solar siding, solar paint and all things building integrated. BIPV – Building Integrated Photovoltaics – is the heir apparent of the solar energy movement — the little brother set to grow up in a big way. Whereas conventional, aluminum-framed solar panels are more of an addition to the average home, future solar components will be key ingredients in the recipe of home building. They won’t be on your roof, they’ll be your roof.

That, in essence, is what makes BIPV so cool, if still a tad underdeveloped. Already, solar shingles (mostly solar roof tiles) are lining many rooftops, keeping the rain out while taking the sunshine in. Companies like Nanosolar are printing solar cells onto thin rolls of “foil.” Researchers the world over are working to commercialize spray-on solar cells that could one day become the most energetic paint you’ll ever buy. And it’s all being done with less material, in less time and at a lower cost than conventional silicon-based solar panels.

Solar Shingles

Solar shingles are solar panels incognito. Instead of mounting on your roof, they become your roof or integrate seamlessly with the existing roof shingles. In many cases, they can be stapled to the sub-roofing the same as an ordinary shingle. On average, shingles are about 12 inches wide by seven feet long. There are also solar roof tiles that integrate well with mission-style housing common in the sunny Southwest. Solar shingles, like most thin-film BIPV products currently on the market, are less efficient than silicon solar panels. But, again like other BIPV innovations, are a burgeoning work in progress.

Spray-on Solar

The most fantastic possibility for BIPV lies in the minuscule size of the solar cells. They can be so small — on the nanoscale in fact — that they can be deposited into liquids and sprayed onto surfaces. BIPV leader Nanosolar is using just such a solution (they call it “ink”) to create their rolls of bendable solar cells. Someday, when researchers tackle the problem of durability and efficiency (among others), spray-on cells could be incorporated into paint and product coatings. In other words, your new exterior siding, sheet metal roofing or windows could come made with electricity-producing solar cells.

PIPV: People-Integrated Photovoltaics

Worth mentioning is the fact that the same nanotechnology that promises more building-integrated possibilities than we can imagine will also make it possible for humans to wear solar cells. Seriously, researchers in laboratories around the world have scaled down solar cell production so much that cells can actually be interwoven into fabrics. That means that one day, your jacket or sweater could charge your cell phone, MP3 player or eBook as you walk down the street absentmindedly shopping through windows equipped with BIPV cells powering the very storefront through which your eyes meander.

One Day, Some Day, What a Day

You may have noticed the words “someday” or “one day” used quite a bit in this post. That’s not to imply that these technologies don’t exist, because they do, but they still have room to grow before that window shopping scenario can become an everyday reality. Issues like durability, conversion efficiency, manufacturing and commercialization still need to be worked out. For that reason, conventional silicon wafer solar cells continue to control better than 80 percent of the market today, but that lopsidedness is starting to give way. US solar giant First Solar is leading the thin-film revolution, taking the first major step down a road that will undoubtedly lead to the commercialization of the products mentioned here and many more.

BIPV panels are lauded for their aesthetic value, their pleasant invisibility compared to their bulkier forbears, but that uncanny ability to integrate transcends simply making a roof more nondescript. What really makes BIPV so bodacious and incredible is the wide range of integration possible. Just about any part of the outer shell of a home or building (and especially skyscraper) could be a solar power producer. Heck, even you and I will someday, one day strut around town making electricity out of sunlight…and what a day that will be.

Photo Credit: Solar Power Authority, oldhouseweb & SlipperyBrick

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What if you could combine solar photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal energy, passive solar heat, and daylighting into one architecturally sound and appealing product? Researchers at the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE) are working on that very product right now. Their Integrated Concentrating (IC) Solar Facade System embodies all the main uses for solar power while, says CASE, increasing efficiency and shortening payback periods.

CASE’s IC Solar System begins with concentrating PV. What a homeowner will see integrated into the exterior of their home are transparent, hexagonal lenses that focus solar irradiation onto tiny solar cells within the facade. Those lenses concentrate sunlight up to 400 times, producing a much more efficient, multi-junction solar cell – up to 39.4 percent under manufactured conditions.

The system allows you to see outdoors while the sun provides natural, energy-saving indoor light during the day. But that’s not all. In the small places between the honeycombed solar panels travels a coolant that captures whatever solar energy is not converted by the PV cell. That heat can be used to heat the water supply or, if effective enough, heat the living space. It also reduces solar heat gain and improves the quality of indoor lighting. To read a press release on the Solar Facade System, see the CASE website.

There are still some unanswered questions regarding the facade. For instance, how easily can it be manufactured? Can it be commercialized in an affordable way? How truly aesthetically pleasing is it? One can’t help but be impressed by the many solar functions served by just one product, capturing both solar thermal and PV power. But, like any solar product, it must be proven in the real world.

Partnering with CASE in this solar hybrid endeavor is the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and architectural firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill LLP, otherwise known simply as SOM.

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Once upon a (previous) decade, we wrote about 15 Wacky Solar Power Products. And now, perhaps the wackiest of solar doodads has become a reality. Don’t expect to find it on a store shelf, but if it crosses your path, we highly recommend you stop in for a cocktail. It’s the MercuryHouseOne, a solar-powered portable lounge that has all the offerings of the most postmodern living room with all the energy efficiency of a solar-powered domicile.

At just under 30 x 15 feet, this solar lounge can pack a punch (spiked) and a baker’s dozen or two of your best friends. Equipped with acrylic windows and a sleek, backlit Carrara marble shell powered by integrated solar panels, this solar pod is so Nautilus we would half expect to ask Captain Nemo permission to come aboard. But this vessel chills on land and is powered by the sun with a grip of modern style. We’re betting drinks inside the solar lounge are a bit spendy, unless, of course, you or a friend are wealthy enough to own the coolest bar Mother Nature ever set her electric eyes upon.

As the architects put it:

“MercuryHouseOne is powered only by solar panels made out of semi-transparent photovoltaic cells. The glass fiber monocoque body is covered with an ultra-thin, white marble skin that features a mosaic…It provides a space to find peace and tranquility and experience nature’s energies and beauty. It is creating a source of refreshment for mind, body and spirit.”

Cheers.

OK, so we don’t expect these solar lounges to line the streets at next year’s Super Bowl parade, but, if nothing else, the architects deserve a good deal of credit for turning their solar-eggshell-ish portable lounge from concept into reality. MercuryHouseOne is a symbol of greater things to come in architecture and renewable energy. So here’s to solar power and a bit of the white lightning on the sun’s dime.

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Biofuels would be an excellent alternative to conventional gasoline and diesel if it weren’t for one nagging problem: they are energy-intensive to produce. Bio-ethanol was once seen as the holy grail of alternative fuels, but a poor energy balance and competition with food supply made it more of a lame duck than any sort of exalted enviro-savior.

New Mexico-based Sundrop Fuels, however, has developed a hybrid solar-biomass refinery to address those issues. The company plans to use concentrated solar power (CSP) to heat plant scraps and wood chips to create a biofuel. That biofuel can then be used to create gasoline or diesel fuel.

The use of solar power to reduce consumption of biomass at the refinery should considerably improve their product’s energy balance, i.e. energy put into production versus energy pulled out. Sundrop’s SurroundSun reactor technology is similar to relatively new Power Tower tech now used to create solar thermal electricity. In fact, Sundrop has licensed CSP technology from well-known start-up eSolar to make their prototype biorefinery a reality.

Instead of using mirrors to reflect sunlight and to heat water or molten salts in a central tower, Sundrop Fuels’ design will use that solar energy to heat biomass to very high temperatures. The solar heat “blasts organic materials with super high temperatures…tearing apart the materials at the molecular level…which creates a synthetic gas that can be formed into gasoline or diesel,” said Sundrop CEO Wayne Simmons.

Some burning of biomass will be necessary to reach the desired temperatures, but the company claims that roughly 30 percent of the necessary heat will come from the sun. That translates into roughly one-third less fuel burnt to create their end-product.

Sundrop is seeking investors to get a demonstration project off the ground. $100-$150 million is needed to build the plant that could create up to 8 million gallons of alternative fuel per year. From there, Sundrop hopes to expand into foreign markets with sunny, arid climates, such as North Africa, the Middle East and China. They plan to have the demo project online around 2012 and then expand from there.

The use of wood chips, corn stalks and other plant scraps would address the issue of competition with food supply that plagues the biofuels industry. Using solar thermal power rather than burning all biomass or natural gas will address the issue of energy balance for their product. In the end, Sundrop may provide consumers and commuters with an alternative fuel that actually makes a difference. While this writer still hopes for widespread use of electric vehicles, there are definitely some hangups – such as commercial trucking – that a hybrid solar-biomass fuel could eliminate, and in the relatively short term.

Source: Green.TMCnet.com

Photo Credit: OUC

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Imagine going to the refueling station by entering your garage. Honda Motors is trying to make that notion a reality with the announcement of its new Honda Solar Hydrogen Station, an all-in-one electrolyzer and compressor that provides 0.5 kg of hydrogen over 8 hours. That will enable a fuel cell electric vehicle to handle trips to work and errands on a typical day. The station is also designed to fit into a standard garage and be as easy to use as any conventional filling station. Oh, and by the way, it runs on solar power.

Honda’s previous attempt at a solar hydrogen refueling station required a separate electrolyzer and compressor, hindering the adaptability of the station to small spaces in home garages. The newer version has Honda smiling. After all, the elimination of the separate compressor from the system is a world first, and the new prototype improves fuel efficiency by 25 percent, according to simulations performed by Honda. Furthermore, the compressor was the most expensive component of the older system. The new model brings Honda and fuel cell EV owners that much closer to eliminating trips to the refueling station altogether.

Honda’s Solar Hydrogen Station is reminiscent of Daniel Nocera’s much-hyped solar/fuel cell home power system that would not only charge EVs but power the home as well. In addition to home garages, Honda has designed its prototype, unveiled at the Los Angeles Center of Honda R&D Americas, Inc., to be used at fast fuel hydrogen stations. The Honda FCX Clarity electric vehicle can travel up to 240 miles between refueling stops – plenty more than the average commuter drives in a single day.

Via Earth Techling

Photo Credit: Inside Line & EarthTechling

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From manufacturing to installation, the life of a solar panel has a somewhat checkered history. As eco-friendly as solar cells and modules are, within them exists a number of toxins that previously have been or someday will become harmful to the environment. Well, we can accept that nothing in life is perfect, and that all things considered, solar panels have a positive energy balance, but that doesn’t erase those toxins that plague many solar module components.

BioSolar, Inc. is attempting to rectify that by replacing toxic materials with those from renewable plant materials. That effort has earned their products inclusion on the list of “PV Innovations on the Leading Edge for 2010″ by Renewable Energy Focus magazine. Specifically, BioSolar has created BioBacksheets to replace the toxin-rich, petroleum-based backsheets used in most solar modules today.

BioBacksheets are made from castor beans and cotton, renewable plant resources that are both less expensive than traditional products and prove excellent thermal barriers and electric insulation for solar panels. By replacing the petroleum components of solar panels with “growable” alternatives, BioSolar will significantly reduce the environmental impact of solar components after their useful life is over. And while solar panels can last for 30 or 40 years and longer, within a few decades from the current solar boom, we can expect a parade of solar products heading for recycling plants or landfills.

BioSolar’s recognition by Renewable Energy Focus came in the first of a series of magazine articles on advances in solar photovoltaics by Joyce Laird. Perhaps what she found so special about BioSolar’s innovations were the combination of reducing both the environmental impact of solar products and their cost. Plant-based materials are cheaper and readily available, and in an industry where even a single penny reduction in production cost-per-watt can have a major sales impact, such innovation is certainly worthy of recognition.

Via Trading Markets

Photo Credit: BioSolar

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The first signs of spring this year may be seen on store shelves in the form of IKEA solar outdoor lighting. The new SOLIG solar lighting products are only available seasonally and are expected to hit store all over the country. Included are some solar lighting staples like hanging paper lights. Unique to the SOLIG line, however, are indoor-turned-outdoor products, like table, pendant and floor lamps.

Each light is powered by integrated solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity, and all are equipped with efficient LED light bulbs. Compared to incandescent bulbs, LEDs use 70 percent less energy and last at least four times longer.

Yet the usual argument that efficiency and longevity make up for the high price tag does not apply to IKEA SOLIG lights. The deal is even sweeter because these solar lights are efficient, long-lasting and affordable, running from $8 for pathway lights to $40 for a full-sized floor lamp. In most cases, SOLIG lights won’t be available in stores until the end of February or early March, but given their low cost and modern style, expect them to go fast.

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Open loop. Closed loop. Active. Passive. Single tank or dual tank. Purchasing a solar hot water heater is a task full of choices. Choices that often go unrecognized as we scramble to explain how it works or what incentives may or may not be available. Knowing and understanding those two variables are vital to any water heater buy, but doing so is not like a trip to the appliance store, where you might walk in, peruse the aisles, and walk out with whatever clothes dryer fit your budget.

Photo Credit: r_neches

Shopping for solar hot water heaters requires a little extra research. There are different designs whose relevance to you will vary based on several factors, including local climate, water needs and more. There are also many manufacturers that should be researched as well. We’ll now dive a bit deeper into some of these key factors…

Local Climate

The vital factor here is the threat of freezing temperatures in winter. In warm and sunny climates, such as those enjoyed by Florida and southern California, open loop systems are most common. In these systems, water is heated directly by the solar collectors. Passive integral collector storage (ICS) systems are a possibility for these residents.

For those in cold or mild but freeze-threatened regions, such as the northern states and the Pacific Northwest, a closed loop system is most viable. There are also drain back system that drain the water from the collector into a separate tank when not in use, or when temperatures approach freezing (using a sensor). In closed loop systems, instead of running the water itself through the solar collectors, an antifreeze solution (propylene glycol or ethylene glycol) is passed through the collector. Once heated, this transfer fluid passes that heat along to the water supply by way of a heat exchanger.

Even among closed and open loop systems, there are a number of different designs. These are expertly explained in this article from the American Solar Energy Society. However, your best resource for discovering which systems are best suited to your local climate will be a local and reputable solar thermal installer.

Water Needs

Some solar water heaters use pumps to move water or transfer fluids throughout the system. Others simply use the pressure of the city water supply. Most solar hot water systems will contain one or more storage tanks to hold heated water until it’s needed within the home. Tankless systems are also available.

The size of the water tank and the square footage of the collector space on your roof will be largely determined by your family’s hot water needs. Larger families will obviously need a bigger tank to meet demand. The average 40 square-foot group of solar collectors provides nearly 40 gallons of hot water per day – roughly 60 percent of what the average family of four requires.

Factoring your daily water usage will have an effect on which solar hot water heater you choose.

Collectors

There are three types of solar hot water collectors. As mentioned above, integral collector storage systems, in which storage tank itself is the collector, are passive systems. More common are flat plate collectors and evacuated tube collectors. The former is cheaper and more common in warm and sunny climates. The latter is more expensive but also more efficient and recommended for those who live in Northwestern, Northeastern, and similar climates. Evacuated tube collectors are able to heat and function at higher temperatures than flat plate collectors and are better suited for families seeking year-round water or space heating. Solar hot water collectors are best explained here and here.

Manufacturers

Solar-rating.org is the home of the Solar Ratings and Certification Corporation (SRCC). Every solar water heater manufacturer must register with this organization in order for their products to be eligible for federal tax incentives. SRCC is step number one in researching who to buy your solar water heater from. There, you’ll find a list of water heaters as well as performance ratings for each. There’s a system designed for every climate, and once again, your solar thermal contractor will have extensive knowledge of which manufacturers and which systems will work best for you.

Budget

Solar hot water heaters cost upwards of $6,000 before any incentives or rebates are factored in. That’s no small chunk of change (although it should be noted that solar water heaters will last over 40 years with routine maintenance). There are several variables that affect price. Closed loop systems will naturally cost more on average than open loop due to the addition of parts. Active systems with their pumps will cost more than passive systems. Two storage tanks will cost more than one. You get the idea.

With the renewal of solar tax credits at the end of last year, a federal tax credit of 30 percent of total costs is now available to everyone. Many states have their own incentives as well, which bring down the end costs even more. Also look into utility and local city or county incentives as well. There is much out there to help ease the financial burden on solar hot water heaters, and the amount of aid available may not only determine which system you buy, but whether you buy at all.

Installer

Not only will a solar thermal installer get the system up and running after you’ve chosen, he or she will also be a valuable consultant during the choosing process. Reputable installers will have valuable knowledge about all the above factors. Finding installers is as easy as ever. The American Solar Energy Society allows you to search by zip code, and of course, Calfinder Solar lists local installers and connects you with them for free estimates.

All this may seem like a lot of information to swallow, but that’s what makes local solar professionals such a valuable resource. All it takes is a little research and a few phone calls before you’re enjoying a hot shower, low carbon footprint and greatly reduced water bills locked in for the next 30-40 years.

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