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Dell has just put the finishing touches on its latest green addition to the company’s corporate headquarters in Round Rock, Texas. Called a “solar grove”, the solar-powered parking lot not only produced carbon-free energy for the building, but is also ready to power plug-in vehicles — should any Dell employee currently be lucky enough to have one. From AutoBlogGreen,

The Solar Trees®, located in the Dell employee parking lot, will simultaneously shade 50 parking spaces and generate clean electricity directly from the sun. In an example of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology, the solar arrays also incorporate two Envision Solar CleanCharge™ solar charging stations utilizing Coulomb ChargPoint™ for Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs). Photos can be viewed here. “Dell’s commitment to environmental sustainability is a beacon to organizations worldwide. We’re proud our Solar Trees® and CleanCharge™ solar charging stations can help serve as visible symbols of their environmental stewardship. The future of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles has arrived and our experience in solar innovation has allowed us to lead the market in the development of solar charging stations,” said Robert Noble, CEO & Chairman of Envision Solar.

The Solar Grove is expected to produce more than 130kW of clean energy. Check out the full press release here.

In what’s sure to give inane homeowner’s associations across suburbia hope, Dow Chemical on Monday announced a massive push into the solar shingle business – with a roll-out of their new integrated solar cells expected around 2011. Jetson Green delves into the benefits saying, “The POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle is made with CIGS photovoltaic cells in a proprietary shingle design.  Roofing contractors won’t need any particular knowledge of solar array installations, and installations should be quick because conventional roofing shingles and Solar Shingles can be applied at the same time.”

Dow loaded their press release with some pie-in-the-sky numbers saying that they expect the solar shingle industry to potentially reach $5 billion by 2015, and $10 billion by 2020. Obviously, while not as efficient as their panel brethren, homeowners may find the aesthetics much more appealing. If costs can come down, perhaps Dow’s numbers might be on target. Then again, we’ve been dreaming about a solar suburbia for awhile now — and in the current economic shitstorm — such hopes might need to be delayed. Read up more on Dow’s announcement here.

We’ve seen plenty of solar-charger accessories for mobile phones and other gadgets, but this is the first one that appears to attach seamlessly. Created by product design firm MotionTouch for a company called Powcell, this solar-powered sleeve slides onto the back of a mobile phone handset and uses light to charge the unit. From the release,

The large solar panel provides the greatest surface area for light-capture and maximises the sleeve’s efficiency, including working in some ambient light conditions. And Powcell continues to charge its internal battery even when removed from the phone – so when reconnected it provides talk-time even if the device battery is exhausted.

Ahead of full production the sleeve has attracted considerable interest from major phone manufacturers, which have even approached Powcell about sleeves for future, yet-to-launch models of their phones.

Henry Powell, Client Director of MotionTouch says “Dispensing with the need for plug-in chargers makes Powcell a ground-breaking eco-product. And the ability to provide power for that crucial call, even when your phone is flat, makes it an essential accessory. We are very excited to have been so involved in this unique product that could change the future of mobile technology.”

We admit it’s a nice design — but some users will definitely be turned off by the added bulkiness; albeit minor compared to other options. The greatest leg-up here is the ability to have a backup battery source when you need it — and using clean energy to power your phone. It’s not for everyone, but it’s one of the best designed solar accessories we’ve seen yet.

Powcell expects to release the iPhone unit soon — with other phone models available shortly after.

Enjoy solar showers, but really want to be completely naked in the process? Unless you’re in a nudist colony, that option might be not available on a public beach. However, this innovative (and stylish) pop-up privacy tent from Guide Gear will hide your bits and bops while giving you a clean, hot rinse. The 6.5 lb tent is quick to setup and includes a 5-gallon PVC Solar Shower. Said one recent reviewer on Amazon:

Our family has always been more on the “minimal” side for car camping trips, but with my 23 year old daughter and her friends along on our recent trip, we needed a shower. We bought a Zodi water heater and this pop up shower tent. Great decision! The tent pops up in a second, nothing to put together and added almost no weight or bulk to our gear. The olive green material provided total coverage, blended nicely with the outdoor terrain, and had plenty of room for big guys. The 3 adjustments we made were adding a clip/clothespin to attach the shower head to the top, a chair right outside to hang towel and clothes (it cannot support much weight), and a large plastic pan to stand on. With those items, we had eight of us showering daily with no hitch.

That being said, you could also just go and jump in the nearest river. While this item is indeed handy, it may just be another piece of “baggage” that’s rather unnecessary when camping. To each their own, however — you be the judge.

Amazon via Ecofriend

I just came across this “Solar Tree” design from Gurdeep Sandhu and thought it to be a creative take on energy generation. As he explains,

With a little space in your backyard, installing this solar tree will not be a problem. During the day just wing-out the panels and let them absorb the glory of the sun; and in the evening fold them back. If you need to move house, just uproot it and take it along with you. Else if technology changes, you can even upgrade the panels for maximum benefit. Silent, efficient, cost effective are some of the virtues that sound music to my ears. What’s more you can either directly hook it up to appliance during the day or store the energy for later use. The sturdy metallic silver aluminum frame looks neat and tidy when packed up.

I’d love to see some big wheels on this thing to make it truly portable. I could see construction crews rolling these suckers off of trucks and using them to power machinery. Having them fold up easily and tuck away somewherer is definitely a plus — though I wonder how many people could benefit from a setup like this instead of one on their roofs.

More details available here.

It has come to my attention recently that the real estate trust Prologis is developing the rooftops of their existing buildings by contracting to lease the space to power companies to install solar panels.

From the press release:

Headquartered in Denver, Colo., as a manager and developer of real estate, ProLogis is actively seeking out electric utilities to lease out its rooftops as a way to earn extra income with no capital investment, while meeting the company’s goal of contributing to global sustainability.

As a real estate investment trust, ProLogis isn’t interested in owning the solar installations, but rather in engaging utilities as a renter of its space. Utilities make solid tenants that will enter long-term leases, as most power-purchase agreements for solar power generation are for 15 to 20 years.

ProLogis manages more than five hundred million square feet of industrial space and they are putting all of it to good use on three continents. Actually, ProLogis owns more rooftops than anyone in the world – they have available space in twenty-four countries across the globe. The amount of space is equivalent to approximately 10,000 football fields.

Now, I’m not willing to give them a free pass on the development aspect of continually developing new buildings on virgin land, but putting solar panels on their roof tops to feed the grids sure makes good use of a resource that is normally ignored.  I would bet that they probably help insulate the roofs even, which can only be good.

Company’s sustainability site.

Picture courtesy of Organic Picks

Since I can’t leave my comment at the WSJ forums on this article (I guess the discussion is closed), I’ll have to do it here.

from the article:

Let’s Get Real About Renewable Energy

We can double the output of solar and wind, and double it again. We’ll still depend on hydrocarbons.

[snip]

Mr. Bush’s record aside, the key problem facing Mr. Obama, and anyone else advocating a rapid transition away from the hydrocarbons that have dominated the world’s energy mix since the dawn of the Industrial Age, is the same issue that dogs every alternative energy idea: scale.

Let’s start by deciphering exactly what Mr. Obama includes in his definition of “renewable” energy. If he’s including hydropower, which now provides about 2.4% of America’s total primary energy needs, then the president clearly has no concept of what he is promising. Hydro now provides more than 16 times as much energy as wind and solar power combined. Yet more dams are being dismantled than built. Since 1999, more than 200 dams in the U.S. have been removed.

If Mr. Obama is only counting wind power and solar power as renewables, then his promise is clearly doable. But the unfortunate truth is that even if he matches Mr. Bush’s effort by doubling wind and solar output by 2012, the contribution of those two sources to America’s overall energy needs will still be almost inconsequential.

and so forth…

Here’s the issue that I have with this article – the math:

For the sake of convenience, let’s convert the energy produced by U.S. wind and solar installations into oil equivalents.

The conversion of electricity into oil terms is straightforward: one barrel of oil contains the energy equivalent of 1.64 megawatt-hours of electricity. Thus, 45,493,000 megawatt-hours divided by 1.64 megawatt-hours per barrel of oil equals 27.7 million barrels of oil equivalent from solar and wind for all of 2008.

Now divide that 27.7 million barrels by 365 days and you find that solar and wind sources are providing the equivalent of 76,000 barrels of oil per day. America’s total primary energy use is about 47.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

My rebuttal:

Politics aside, I believe that the math in the article is a little misleading.

It’s true that 1 barrel of oil contains 6119 MJ of energy, or 1.64 MWh of energy.  However, electricity is highly refined energy, i.e. one must burn 3 MJ worth of coal to create 1 MJ of electricity (roughly the same for oil).  The author’s math assumes that there is a process for converting all of the 1.64 MWh in a barrel of oil into electricity.  At best the conversion rate is 30-40%.  Looking at a barrel of oil in that light, one would consider a barrel of oil to “equal” 0.55 MWh of electricity.  Or, conversely, a barrel of oil would be displaced for every 0.55 MWh of renewable electricity production.

Redoing the math:

45,493,000 megawatt-hours divided by 0.55 megawatt-hours per barrel of oil equals 82.7 million barrels of oil equivalent from solar and wind for all of 2008.

Dividing by 365, the numbers remain grim – 227,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.  Still a drop in the bucket of the roughly 19 million barrels per day of crude oil consumption, but much rosier than the picture that Mr. Bryce paints.

This is one of the tricky issues of energy conversion, and using “energy equivalents” in arguing your point – especially when comparing electricity to raw fossil fuels.  I would expect that the economists and energy analysts at the WSJ would understand this concept, especially someone who is the managing editor at the www.energytribune.com website.

Homeowners Associations have got to be one of the more inane aspects of American society. A friend of mine moved into a neighborhood with one, completely unprepared for the mess she was getting into. Now, no toys can be left outside, all cars must be kept in the garage at all times, the grass must be a certain height and color, and every change to the home must first be approved by a “board”. It’s both a hilarious and sad way that some choose to live — all for the sake of homogeneity in aesthetics.

In March of 2007, we reported on an incident where the town of Scarsdale denied a family the opportunity to put up solar panels — on the basis that they were ugly and “not in keeping with the character of the community”. It was BS then — and it’s still BS. Now, another homeowners association in California is denying one man’s quest to reduce his electric bill by installing solar panels on his roof. Their reason? They do not believe the technology fits in with their rules and guidelines of a community with “restrained elegance.”

Sick. Really, sick. From the article,

Weinberg wanted to put solid black panels on the roof at the front of his house, which faces a T-shape intersection and other homes. Jordan reviewed the application last March and recommended it be denied. He suggested that Weinberg install the panels on the roof at the back of his house instead, where they would be hidden from view.

“We always try to find a creative way to solve the problem,” Jordan said. “There’s another way to do it other than putting it on his roof for everyone to see.”

However, the front of the house faces south, the optimal orientation for catching light. Moving the panels to the back would decrease the system’s efficiency by more than 20 percent, Weinberg said, unless the panels were installed in a rack that pointed them in the opposite direction, which Weinberg said would increase the cost of the installation by more than the Solar Rights Act permits.

In essence, “they haven’t given us alternatives,” said Michael McQueen, Weinberg’s attorney. The lawsuit was filed June 24, and damages sought could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Good luck Weinberg — and we hope other homeowner associations are watching this development. Solar energy is coming and it’s time to suck it up and start allowing it on rooftops. Then you can get back to ticketing people for improper grass and car color.

A new ship from Celebrity Cruises, currently about 80% complete, is being built with eco-friendly technology and design in ever phase of construction. Personally, I find cruises to be one of the most wasteful and benign ways to travel — but they’re not going away, and this development is welcome.

The company actually designed the hull of the ship first — a radical departure from conventional cruise ship construction where things are generally created “top down,” with passenger space configured first, then the hull constructed to fit that space. As a result, the hull is one of the most fuel-efficient possible and the rest of the ship was configured to work around it.

There will also be 80 solar panels on board to power small things such as elevators. The company aknowledges that solar is not currently a cost-effective addition, but add that as prices decrease, the infrastructure will be in place on board to carry more photovoltaics. The hope is that over time, the ship will utilize more clean energy in its consumption.

Besides efficient LED lights throughout, the company also partnered with 3M to create a window coating that will deflect the heat that comes in, reducing the amount of air conditioning needed to cool the ship. In another very interesting green strategy, the buffets will use chilled river rocks — which maintain low temperatures well — in place of ice. This will decrease the amount of water needed for each cruise — as well as the energy required to turn it into ice. Cool, right?

It’s a step in the right direction and something I’m glad to see the cruise industry embracing.

via CruiseCritic

[UPDATE: Ecorazzi is now giving away a Neuton in celebration of their two year anniversary. Jump on over to enter! One person will be chosen at random.]

Before I start this review, you should know that I have a love/hate relationship with lawns. Living in the Northeast, they’re a necessary evil when one has not yet shifted an entire backyard to something built on permaculture. On the other hand, a recently cut lawn does look beautiful and sharp — something drilled into my head from summers of mowing other lawns to make cash in High School.

When my lawn turns colors from a lack of rain, I do not get out the sprinkler. I consider it a vacation from the weekly chore of mowing. If weeds or other variants of grass make their presence known, I consider them compliments to the scenery. It amuses/depresses me to no end the amount of resources Americans spend on the upkeep of lawns across the US — especially in places where grass has no business growing in the first place.

I know many people who use manual mowers to keep their lawns tidy, but I’ve never been one of them. The grass I encounter (due to my unwillingness to mow more often) is often too high — or I don’t like the lack of mulching offered. I absolutely hate raking grass up (another stupid practice) and have embraced the auto-mulching, non-pickup feature found often on today’s modern gas-powered mowers.

Of course, gas-mowers come with their own issues; the least of which is that they run on gasoline. They also require oil maintenance, are loud, and a bit of a pain in the ass to move around due to their heft. These are some of the many reasons why I’ve been intrigued with all of the electric mowers that have been hitting the market. When Neuton contacted me to give their latest a shot, I’m jumped at the opportunity.

Everything arrived in a tighly packed box worthy of green points right away — mostly due to the inclusion of recycle cardboard protecting the contents. Putting the mower together was a snap and I had everything ready to rock in about 15 minutes. Of course, the battery needed an overnight charge, so my initial grass cutting was delayed by a day. Fine by me.

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