We'd imagine that the UK Petrol Retailers Association would have a vested interest in making the business model of the tried-and-true gas station survive. So, we aren't all that surprised to read about the group's suggestion that future gas stations should carry solar roofs that feed power into electricity dispensers, especially now that the Prime Minister has pledged large sums of money for EV development. The alternative, of course, would be to charge your electric car's battery right at home while it's not being used. If you wanted to go renewable, you could set up your own solar or wind-powered charging station right in your garage. Still, there are a number of individuals who don't have a place to store their cars, let alone its associated charging gear, so the idea of stand-alone charging stations definitely has some merit. Whether or not these solar stations deserve any government help is another matter entirely.

[Source: Auto Express]

Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria recently got some face-to-face time with Elon Musk, who, as you surely know by now, is one of the "product architects" at Tesla Motors. There were plenty of interesting quotes to come from the interview, but a few truly stood out from the rest. For instance, Musk slams plug-in hybrids pretty mercilessly while also claiming that the "a majority of all new cars produced in the United States, perhaps worldwide, will be electric. And I don't mean hybrid. I mean pure electric," within just thirty years. What's more, Musk adds that one of his other start-up companies, SolarCity, has the solution to what he refers to as the "'long tailpipe' criticism," where EV opponents point to the fact that much of the electricity in the U.S. comes from dirty sources such as coal. A small solar-panel setup of about 10 by 15 feet [is enough] to generate 200 to 400 miles a week of electricity for your car," according to Musk. We can get behind the idea of charging our own electric cars for the week with our own solar array mounted atop the roof our our garage. Maybe in thirty years that won't sound so far-fetched.

[Source: Newsweek]

With the cost of fuels and the environmental toll of traditional carbon-based sources of electricity generation quickly climbing, solar power in America has become so popular that the government has placed a moratorium on the building of any such projects on Western public land. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), has decided to initiate a programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) in conjunction with the Department of Energy (DOE) to assess the "environmental, social, and economic impacts" that solar installations could have on some of the 119 million acres that it manages in six Western states. While the PEIS is being conducted, no new applications for solar plants will be accepted and the 125 applications already received - which could generate up to 70 billion watts or enough power for 20 million homes - will be the object of their scrutiny. All this effort is being undertaken to, ahem, "increase domestic energy production and ensure greater energy security." According to the New York Times, the PEIS could take two years.

Those folks hoping that the electricity they feed into their Chevy Volts and Apteras in the coming years would be supplied by increasingly carbon-free energy sources may take heart that their voices have not been left out of this process. Comments from the public are encouraged at the Solar Energy Development Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Solar Energy Development PEIS) website. Of course, we also appreciate your comments as well.

[Source: New York Times]

With so many auto-makers throwing their hats into the electric car ring, cleanly producing electricity cheaply becomes even more important. While the oft-touted nuclear solution seems to be getting a lot more expensive, solar is set to get a lot cheaper. Days after IBM announced it is moving into the thin-film solar power arena, Nanosolar CEO, Martin Roscheisen, remembered his own CIGS solar power company had achieved a remarkable milestone recently and shared some impressive video of the worlds first 1 GW production tool on his blog.

The 1GW CIGS coating machine cost $1.65 million and currently spits out solar goodness at a rate of 100 feet-per-minute. That's about 20 times faster than the high-vacuum process with a machine about 10 times cheaper. Roscheisen claims that, in principle, they could speed it up to 2000 feet-per-minute and says the coating should be even better. Since the target price point for Nanosolar panels has often been mentioned as $1 per watt., we say, "Crank those puppies out!". Check out the video after the jump.

Thule, self proclaimed "experts in maximizing a vehicle's roof space," have decided to maximize their own roof space, so to speak, by installing a 318-kilowatt (kW) DC solar photovoltaic (PV) system at their Seymour, CT U.S. headquarters. Consisting of two separate arrays with a total of 1,876 solar panels, the system will provide 26 percent of the facility's total electrical needs. The sun-loving system was subsidized by The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund's On-site Renewable Distributed Energy Program and is owned by Nautilus Solar Energy, LLC, which will provide electricity at a fixed-price below what other energy sources cost.

According to Fred Clark, President of Thule, Inc., "We encourage our employees to ride bikes to work and provide
facilities for those who do so -- leading to Thule being recognized as an industry leader in going green by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News." Adding a solar roof will certainly do nothing but add to that green reputation.

Read the press release after the break.

Wanna build a solar car? Good new for you, then! Nelson Kruschandl has set up a website where he gives you the ins and outs of solar car construction. Sure, there's plenty of power available from the sun, the tricky part is harnessing enough of it to get anywhere. Therefore, lightweight parts and low power consumption are the name of the game. The make the process as simple to understand as possible, Kruschandl has broken the design down into nine essential components:

1. Chassis and seating
2. Mechanics - suspension, steering, brakes
3. Motor and drive train
4. Motor controller
5. Solar Array - usually part of body
6. Batteries or fuel cells
7. Electrical System and instruments
8. Driver Controls - switches, lighting, etc
9. Bodywork - Screen, etc
   

That doesn't seem to hard, right? Just kidding, obviously, but the process set out in those nine steps makes for an entertaining read, so feel free to follow this link to check it out.

[Source: Bluebird Design via Automotive Blogs]

We've written before about Honda's production of solar cells, but did you know that Mitsubishi actually ranks as the world's sixth-largest manufacturer of PV cells? Currently, Mitsubishi Electric cranks out about 120 megawatts worth of solar cells a year, although they have the capacity for 150 megawatts. They plan to increase production to 230 annual megawatts by April of 2009. Solar cells are a hot commodity these days as the power industry, just like the automotive industry, is in the process of "greening" their image. In fact, Mitsubishi believes that the worldwide demand for solar cells could quadruple to 10,000 megawatts as early as 2010. If demand remains high, Mitsubishi Electric could increase its output to 500 megawatts by 2012.

According to professor Ken Durose, Director of the Durham Centre for Renewable Energy, "One of the main issues in solar energy is the cost of materials and we recognise that the cost of solar cells is slowing down their uptake. If solar panels were cheap enough so you could buy a system off the shelf that provided even a fraction of your power needs you would do it, but that product isn't there at the moment."

That makes perfect sense, right? If you could add solar power to your home or car without significant expense as a way to save on your energy bills, you would. But, as the professor says, solar power is still expensive. Sure, they will in fact pay for themselves over time, but I'm sure you are aware that the generation we live in thrives on instant gratification. So, cheaper solar cells is what Durham University is working on. They want to make the cells thinner and stop using the thick silicon process which includes indium, a rare and expensive metal. In an effort to achieve this goal, the University is using high powered electron microscopes which allow researchers "to see the effects that currently limit the performance of solar cells." The microscopes could "[open] up tremendous opportunities in research," according to Durose.

It's almost hard to believe how many projects there are at this time attempting to lower the cost and increase the efficiency of solar power. We are expecting big things from our friend the sun!

[Source: The Durham Centre for Renewable Energy]

We are big proponents of the electric car, and for good reason. The majority of Americans could use one for their daily commute without making any concessions at all, even if they don't know it. There are some stumbling blocks for sure, public perception being one of them. Available charging stations being another one. While this invention won't necessarily help with public perception, it might just take a chunk out of the charging problem.

What you are viewing in the video above is the work of Graeme Attey, and is "a modular wind turbine system that sits neatly on a roof to generate power for a home." The idea seems obvious enough, use the power that is already available in the wind to charge up batteries which can then be discharged back into your electric car. According to the source article, five of them could provide enough energy for your entire home, but I am instead choosing to focus on charging just your automobile. Would you put something like this on your garage roof? How about in conjunction with solar panels?

[Source: Engadget and Meta Efficient]

Now here's some forward thinking. Instead of taking the route many states have and focusing on the immediate and obvious problem of fuel efficiency, Ted Kulongoski (my condolences on your name, man), Governor of Oregon, is taking productive action and signing the Biofuel Bill, as it hath been dubbed, at a SeQuential Biofuels station in Eugene, Oregon (that's pronounced Or-e-gun - the locals are real particular about that). The bill doles out tax breaks to farmers and foresters (not the Subaru) that send their raw materials to biofuel processing plants. It also requires 10 percent (based on availability from the state) ethanol added to all on-road gasoline sold (hopefully no problems there), and two pecent biodiesel added to on-road diesel. It also boosts the state's economy, and paves the way for new jobs. Gee, Bullwinkle, that sounds swell. And now for something you'll really like.

The SeQuential station - the setting of this back-patting, hand-shaking and John Hancocking shindig - is noteworthy in and of itself because it's solar powered, netting 33.6 KW from a solar canopy. It just gets greener, doesn't it? Not only that, but it captures water runoff, filters it, and supplements the utility supply from the city. This warm, fuzzy green feeling brought to you in part by Ted Biglebowski Golongbruskie Furlongrunski Kulongoski and the Biofuel Band, er... SeQuential Biofuels.

[Source: SeQuential Biofuels]

Solar power has long been that main staple for power generation in space. It's easy to see why, as no other systems are necessary and the suns rays are readily available. Plus, there is none of earth's atmosphere to get in the way... Anyway, solar power makes great sense in space, and it will see use again on the next Mars landing attempt. The Phoenix Mars Lander Spacecraft has been made ready to be launched into that big empty ball of space all around our planet. Fortunately, that same space is all around Mars too, so the directions aren't too hard. Lame joke, right? It's the best I got, sorry. Think you can do better? Apply now!

Anyway, back to the Mars landing and all. This next mission will be sending our solar-powered friend to a very cold place, which is far different from the desert in Arizona where the machine was built and tested. Supposedly, the machine has gone through all sorts of environmental testing and is good to go, so let's see if anything interesting is to be found on the planet nearest our own. Like, maybe, some crazy alien technology that will finally break us free from petroleum once and for all! Maybe that's a stretch, though... we'll settle for some cool pictures of Mars.

[Source: Gizmag]

Again, as we pointed out in a previous posting, solar power is likely the most environmentally source of power available, but there are problems associated with it. Currently, solar cells are not cheap enough, nor are they powerful enough to replace much of our existing power generation methods. The fact that they are environmentally friendly alone is not enough to overcome the problems associated with the almighty dollar. Additionally, the current process of creating solar panels uses silicon, which, although there is plenty of it, is expensive to process.

Researchers in New Zealand, however, hope to achieve less expensive cells while making their manufacture more eco-friendly in the process. This technology uses synthetic colored dyes, using compounds related to those used in nature for photosynthesis. This technology is not ready to bring to market, but they do have a working proof-of-concept. They believe that they could be commercially viable in as little as two years. I have posed this idea before, but how about the tinted windows of your car charging the vehicles' battery?

Thanks for the tip, Ray!

[Source: Stuff.co.nz]

We ran a story a little while ago that talked about a thin-film solar covering that is transparent and can be applied to windows. I thought that perhaps it was possible to use them on the large automotive sunroofs that are popular these days to charge the normal 12-volt battery of the vehicle. But, after I saw this website, I started thinking, why not have a garage with these wind turbines covering the roof and the thin-film solar covering on the windows too? The electricity generated should probably be used to charge batteries that could be used to charge your electric car. If you were to do something like this, the electric vehicle's batteries could be charged quite quickly, depending on the batteries in the car. Many of the newest electric cars, like the Phoenix SUT, the Tesla Roadster and the not-yet-available ZENN car using the EEStor system offer the capability to charge very fast, making the limiting factor the power-source you are charging from. Direct battery to battery charging would be one solution to the problem, and using solar and wind-power would take your car completely off the grid. Any thoughts?

Of course, alternatively, you could do the same thing with solar cells on the roof of the garage. Depending on where you live, one may work better than the other.

Related:

• Could the windows of your car charge the battery?

[Source: Human Shelter via Hugg]

This article does not specifically mention what types of glass this will work with, or whether there is any restrictions at all, but it is an interesting thought that the windows of your car could provide electricity to power the battery or batteries of your vehicle. This would help at least one problem with solar panels: their looks. Many people would not want to drive a car that is plated with conventional solar panels. I for one don't like the look of solar panels on the sides of houses, I greatly prefer them on the roof -- solely for aesthetic reasons. According to the article, nanosilicon particles are sprayed onto glass, creating a film which generates electricity from solar radiation. If this film could be sandwiched between two layers a safety glass you'd be golden, as the article states that little transparency is lost. I think the huge glass sunroofs that are popular on cars these days would make perfect solar battery chargers.

[Source: Octillion via Renewable Energy Access]

Here is some shocking news: The Government plans to make nearly half of the electricity consumed using wind, wave and solar power! Oh wait... that's the government of Portugal. Well, still, it is great news. The old goal was 39 percent in 3 years, it was recently upped to 45 percent by Prime Minister Jose Socrates.

"This new goal will place Portugal in the frontline of renewable energy and make it, along with Austria and Sweden, one of the three nations that most invest in this sector. Portugal is one of the nations in the world with the most hydroelectric potential still left to explore. Biofuels are going to be one of our main energy bets," said Socrates.

Last year, Portugal built 36 new wind parks and the world's largest solar power plant, and next year, the world's first commercial wave power station is planned for the country's northern Atlantic coast, according to this article on Yahoo news.

Related:

• Sweden plans to abandon fossil fuels completely by the year 2020
• Yahoo: President Bush to call for 20 percent reduction in gasoline consumption by 2017

[Source: Yahoo]