Sharp Develops See-Through Solar Panels

         Sharp Electronics, a United States subsidiary of an Osaka-based Sharp Corporation and a company known for manufacturing a wide range of consumer and business products, has announced the development of see-through solar panels that offers many benefits over the standard solar panel. The semi-transparent solar panel is designed to be used in balcony railings or as windows in tall buildings, where it can generate energy while also letting light in. The glass, while see-through up close, creates a privacy screen from farther away, acts as a heat shield and is aesthetically pleasing to the eye as well.
        According to CNET, the solar panel "delivers a solar power conversion efficiency of about 6.8-percent with a maximum output of 95 watts." This is quite a bit lower than standard solar panels that typically may have conversion efficiencies of 15 to 20 percent, but then again, standard solar panels can't act as windows.
       Even with a lower efficiency level, the see-through solar panels are generating energy in parts of a building that would typically consist of ordinary glass or metal, so they're still increasing the potential renewable energy generation of a building by a significant amount.
      The panels are also constructed with laminated glass that has been infused with photovoltaic solar cells and are 4.5-feet wide by 3.2-feet tall and only 0.3 inches thick. They will go on sale in Japan on October 1, but so far, no pricing or plans for a release in the United States has been revealed as of yet.

Solar Panels Helps Cool Buildings (like Trees)!

         Usually, trees provide us shade for buildings, whereas we are kept cooler than in if it were to be fully exposed by the sun. However, these days, solar panels, when mounted onto the rooftops of buildings, are able to also provide us comfort and shade (along with generating clean electricity). 

          Researchers at the University of San Diego took a closer look at the solar panels' cooling effect to see how big the effect is and what kind of panel orientation can reap the most benefits." They note that "Using thermal imaging, researchers determined that during the day, a building's ceiling was 5 degrees Fahrenheit cooler under solar panels than under an exposed roof."

Obama's Climate Action Plan: Domestic Renewable Energy

In his augural speech, Obama had announced he would double the production of renewable energy in the United States in the next three years

         Last week, President Obama had presented his Climate Action Plan. The goals for the plan are as follows: to reduce greenhouse emissions, especially carbon; to prepare the United States for the impacts of climate change; and to lead international efforts to prevent global warming. Renewable energy is the key component to the plan, whereas the growth of clean energy sources are steadily increasing.
        President Obama had expressed his enthusiasm in his speech that "over the past four years, we've doubled the electricity that we generate from zero-carbon wind and solar power." He continued, "jobs installing the solar panels that now generate more than four times the power at less cost than just a few years ago." Wind has also shown exponential growth over the years: "jobs manufacturing the wind turbines that now generate enough electricity to power nearly 15 million homes." Moreover, "75% of all wind energy in the country is generated in Republican districts."
        Tom Kieran, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, had praised President Obama's climate speech, stating "We welcome the President's initiative to proceed with climate actions focused at this time on executive agencies." "American workers," he added, "make nearly 70% of the equipment deployed here and wind power is more affordable than ever, protecting electric consumers with 25-year contracts and no risk of fuel price shocks."

Bill Clinton visits Puerto Rico to Promote Renewable Energy

Former President Bill Clinton looks out over his eyeglasses during a forum on renewable energy in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Tuesday, July 16, 2013

       Former President Bill Clinton urges Puerto Rico to lessen its oil dependence and to pursue clean energy alternatives by developing a renewable energy strategy. He notes that the island has the resources necessary to launch various clean energy projects that would also help drive down power bills, which are about twice that of the United States' bills on average. 

        Clinton has also advised during a forum on Tuesday in the United States that the government should also consider manufacturing solar panels and installing them on buildings (given the number of flat roofs that exist across Puerto Rico). Puerto Rico depends on petroleum to generate nearly 70% of its power, but the government recently has provided renewable energy projects to help drive down the costs of bills and reduce greenhouse emissions.  

China Increases Taxes on Solar Panels

Monitoring a solar panel in the production line at a factory in Zhejiang province in China

         China's Minister of Commerce had announced on Thursday that China plans to impose tax tariffs that could exceed 50% on materials imported from the United States and South Korea to make solar panels due to the tension lingering with the West over a trade dispute. This decision, which is to go in effect next week, would be a catastrophe to the American industry for China is supposedly their largest customer for solar-grade poly-silicon, the main ingredient needed for making solar panels. 

         China dominates the world market in terms of solar panel production, exporting approximately $30 billion a year in panel shipments to the West while it imports a large number of poly-silicon from the United States, Europe and Korea. Its decision to heavily tax the United States but levy lower rates on some Korean producers and leave Europe out is widely seen as a retaliation act for the previous trade incidents occurring between the United States and China. 

         Last Fall, the United States had put tax tariffs (of about 24-36%) on Chinese imports after finding out that Chinese companies were benefitting from unfair government subsidies and selling their products below the cost of production. A spokeswoman for Michael Froman, the United States trade representative, had responded that they were in discussions with China related to global issues in solar technology and that this step did not move the ball forward, but "we will continue to engage." 

         Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, and Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources notes that "China is slapping tariffs on poly-silicon because it is unhappy that the United States exercised its legal rights and stood up for our remaining solar manufacturers. I am confident that these retaliatory tariffs will be shown to be without merit."

How the Tesla Motors S is Made

      Tesla Motors, the company responsible for mass producing the electric car Model S, has claimed to be confident that the production would double to 800 per week until late 2014. In other words, they believe themselves to making equivalent to 40,000 Model S vehicles per year. The latest news provided with an interview with Co-Founder Elon Musk notes that he has said that right now they are "above 400 a week at the current manpower, and not trivially above it." Thus, this helps form the conclusion that they hold of the number they would be mass producing and selling.

       But, how is Tesla Motors S able to produce such a large number of vehicles in a short length of time? How are they different from other automakers when it comes to building the cars? What helps them be more efficient?

      The video below, produced by WIRED magazine, allows us to take a look inside the 5 million-square-foot New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI), which is currently known as the Tesla Factory, in Fremont, California.

Solar Funding in Germany Will Stop at 52 Gigawatts

Germany's energy policies have been very friendly towards the continual production of clean energy sources such as solar and wind power. While some of these policies tend to be structural and permanent, others are designed to be "temporary boosts" to help society rely less on fossil fuels and more on renewable energy sources. 

Peter Altmaier, Germany's federal minister of the environment, has announced that Germany will stop subsidizing solar energy by the year 2018 at the latest because the pre-set ceiling of 52 gigawatts of capacity should be reached by that time. 

          

AFP writes: "The system of subsidies, under which solar energy producers are paid a guaranteed price for each kilowatt-hour of power generated, created a boom in recent years, making Germany a global leader in the field. The farm sector in particular seized upon solar power as a chance to supplement income, and the low price of solar panels from Asia contributed to the craze."

Solar Headphones?!

         Solar panels thrive upon sunlight to function properly so why not start by using it on your head? This idea has been introduced by a United Kingdom-based Kickstarter campaign, aiming to provide communities with solar-powered headphones.

          The headphones, known as the "Onbeat Solar Headphones," have a flexible strip of solar panels embedded where it will be exposed to ample amounts of sun's rays, assuming you will be wearing it outdoors. The solar panel, then, will be used to charge a pair of lithium-ion batteries located inside the ear cups, where there will also be a USB port on one of the ear cups for outputting electronically charges for electronic devices. 

          Exactly how much of a charge you'll be getting from such a small solar panel is still stated unclear, especially considering that the entire solar panel is not going to be exposed to the sun all at once (due to the curving shape around the head). However, OnBeat's creators have proclaimed that the solar cell has a surface area of 55cm³ with a charge capacity of approximately 0.55 watts. 

For more details, please visit here.

Solar Impulse: Last Trip from Washington, D.C., to New York

            The ultimate goal for Solar Impulse was to fly across the globe powered solely upon the sun's rays. So far, it has accomplished many goals in the last three years: in 2010, it flew for 26 hours straight; in 2011, it flew from Belgium to Paris, France and in 2012, a prototype had completed the first intercontinental flight connecting from Europe to Africa. This year, it proposed a challenge to fly across United States from the East coast to the West. 

The itinerary featured: from San Francisco (California) to Phoenix (Arizona) to Dallas (Texas) to St. Louis (Missouri) ending in the last haul to Washington, D.C., and New York

The fourth leg from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., has been completed successfully while the trip from Washington D.C., to New York is steadily approaching. You can view updates and the schedule for the rest of the historic flight here.

There are also many videos of their stops featured here.

Apple Inc. Planning Solar Farm for Reno Datacenter

          As part of Apple's plans to meet all power needs with renewable energy, Apple is setting its eyes on its third solar farm. The new farm is planned to power Apple's data center in Reno, Nevada and also aims to provide energy for the surrounding community. Apple currently has two solar farm projects underway at a datacenter in North Carolina. 

         Working in partnership with the Nevada utility company NV Energy, the solar farm should be able to produce "approximately 43.5 million kilowatt hours of clean energy, equivalent to taking 6,400 passenger vehicles off the road per year," according to a statement released by Apple. NV Energy CEO Michael Yackira responded in a statement, "We're excited to be in partnership with Apple on a new solar energy project, the first project under our new Green Energy Program. This program allows customers such as Apple to choose to have a greater proportion of their energy coming from renewables than the law requires, without having a cost impact on our other customers."