Indian Solar Invention Reduces Food Waste

       

       
        A group of Indian graduate students have came up with a solution that helps reduce the problems faced in rural areas in India: food, electricity and income. Vaibhav Tidke, Shital Somani, and Aditya Kulkarni had used different scientific backgrounds to innovate a solar conduction dryer, which helps to dry out fruits and vegetables, enabling farmers to preserve and sell the food at a higher price. This, in result, solves several problems at once as this technology reduces food spoilage, extends food shelf life and allow nutritional retention, helping the agriculture-dependent livelihood earn more.
        Their creation, known as the Solar Conduction Dryer (SCD), recently had won the grand prize at the 2013 Dell Social Innovation Challenge (DSIC), an initiative of the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at the LBJ School of Public Affairs in the University of Texas. The trio had received $60,000 in prize money to help fund and commercialize their project.

BioLite Campstove = Backpacking Stove + Off-Grid Power Charger

          The BioLite Campstove is the combination of a backpacking stove as well as an off-grid power charger so you are able to cook a meal while charging your electronic gadgets at a country camping area. This mini campstove uses biomass, which decreases your carbon footprint and eliminates the ned to carry the extra weight of a solar power panel and fuel canisters.
          Simply imagine how relaxing Labor Day Weekend would be when you are able to cook your meals along with charging your devices using only firewood. However, the gadget may be heavy so if you may think finding dry wood would be hard, it may not be worth carrying the weight. Though, this mini campstove is handy when you need a power source to charge your devices and cook your meals at the same time.

Solar Plane completes its 2nd quarter of it's cross-country flight

A solar-powered plane with its side by side propellers and the pilot named Andre Borsche along with Bertrand Piccard, the ones in charge of the project, took on a challenge of travelling cross-country  powered only by the sun. The plane had gotten airborne off the ground of California early May headed to  Phoenix, Arizona taking part in completing its 1st quarter of its travel. After it's take off from Phoenix, Arizona last Wednesday, the plane landed safely at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Texas finishing off it's 2nd trip cross country. After preparations, the plane is expected to take off from Texas to Washington, then crossing the finish line at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. Each trip is measured to take about 20 hours with several of days for inspection at each of the cities.

New Bill Could Help Georgia Grow as a Solar Market

      Local Public Service Commissioner Lauren "Bubba" McDonald, Jr., had noted that "Georgia is the third best state for solar energy in the United States but ranks 35th in actual solar installations, even the cost of panels have decreased 33%." In fact, the state has the same solar potential as central Africa or India, with most areas of the state generating between 4.92 and 5.21 kilowatt hours per square meter per day.
      With all this to be considered, Georgia represents an unmarked opportunity to grow. Therefore, it's no surprise that Georgia Solar Utilities company is backing the "Rural Georgia Economic Recovery and Solar Resource Act of 2013." This bill is enabled to create a unique financing model for solar energy, wherein third parties (like Georgia Solar Utilities) can submit proposals to the Public Service Commission for financing and aggregating solar energy.
      Some of the details enlisted in the bill have the capacity to help Georgia grow in terms of the solar market. The statute clears roadblocks like interconnection and grid access for generating assets and this entire program is on an opt-in basis. Competitive bidding on construction and installation will be creating market incentives to help lower the soft costs of solar panel installations. Since photovoltaic and solar farms are covered under the statute, neighborhood homes in Atlanta could have solar power on their roofs while unused fields in the country can yield 30-megawatt solar farms. If the sun decides to shine in either place, ratepayers in both areas reap the benefits as well as this geographical distribution also brings about less variability.
     "The world has changed for the economics of solar in Georgia, but we're stuck with 40-year-old laws that block us from taking advantage of it," said Robert Green, CEO of Georgia Solar Utilities. "So we're offering a conservative, no-brainer proposition: let a private company bear all the downside risk for investing in solar with no upward pressure on utility rates, and let ratepayers reap the upside of future cost savings as solar prices fall."

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Walmart in Ohio is now powered by solar!

Walmart has announced that it has worked with SolarCity on progressing towards 12 Walmart stores & Sam's Clubs all over Ohio with installing solar panels that generates up to 6,000,000 kWh of energy, enough to power more than 820 homes and is also apprehended to accumulate about 5-20% of each store's energy consumption. Walmart has committed to increasing the use of renewable energy on all the stores in Ohio and across the country. Pretty effective knowing almost all Walmart stores are open 24 hours and finally being able to say bye bye to those outrageous electric bills.

"Walmart's installation of solar on 12 store rooftops is the largest solar commitment ever made by a retail business in Ohio," said Bill Spratley