Renew News

The Renewable Energies Heating Law just passed in Germany requires all new homes built after January 1st, 2009 to provide 14% of their heating and hot water energy with renewable sources. The German government is promising $517 million dollars a year in grants to help make this happen. Then, starting in 2010, existing homes will have to be remodeled to include renewable energy heating systems. There will be a lot of new solar thermal panels, heat pumps and wood pellet stoves and boilers installed over there in the coming years!

Israel and Spain began this trend (Spain also required photovoltaic energy systems in new buildings as of 2005–Wikipedia) and I sure hope we’ll be continuing the trend here in the U.S.!

Take a look here for more on the new law.

Yes it’s true! You can convert your VW into an electric car with the kits available at e-volks.com. It’s pretty amazing really. I read about this website in Make magazine, and it looks really cool. The guy in the article made his car not only electric, but solar as well, by putting a $350 solar panel on the roof. You won’t get the range that a factory-made solar would get (if they existed) but you can get enough range for most people’s daily needs.

Maybe it’s time to find that old VW and make it into an awesome car of the future! The site says that you can use the kits with other cars as well, it just takes a little more work.

It seems to me that with the new battery technology from this post you might even be able to make a car with better range than the one in the Make magazine article. By the way, the article is available online, but you have to have a subscription to read it. You might as well just join up if this kind of thing interests you; it’s an awesome magazine.

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The home security systems are used for the protection against any kind of burglary, fire losses, and accidental situation, caused by electric short cut. The most reputable and advanced security system is known as adt security devices which are used for the different safety measures. The brinks security systems and appliance are more reliable and affordable with the exclusive safety measures based on the advanced technology.

I have been against nuclear power for as long as I have given any thought to the issue.  I hate to say it, but I have just changed my mind.  There is a great article in a recent Discover Magazine that lays out the important details, and is the first comprehensive comparison I have seen of the pros and cons of nuclear vs. wind, solar, and coal.

Of course I strongly believe that we need to put massive effort into making solar power and other renewable energy sources viable, but the truth is that wind is not constant and solar is not yet very efficient.  When compared to the massive amount of coal we as a nation (the United States of America) burn, nuclear seems to be the lesser of the two evils until we can get renewables to cover a greater percentage of our energy needs.  To be sure, I ONLY see nuclear as a stop-gap measure, but we need to take action now to decrease our national carbon emissions.

Read the Discover Magazine article here.

A company called Solar Electric Vehicles has put out what Prius owners have been waiting for: a solar roof panel. It apparently costs about $2000-4000 and will pay for itself in 2-3 years. Read a very nice article at TreeHugger.com.

Photo from TreeHugger.com

Also, check out the Solar Electric Vehicles site for more information.

photos: Michel Zumbrunn

The Venturi Company from Monaco is hitting the renewable energy vehicle market full-force. They have three different models already: The Eclectic (a golf-cart looking super eco-car; below), the Astrolab (in between a sports car, and a an eco-car; above), and the Fetish (all-out sports car).

Only the Fetish is in production at the moment, but all of the cars will be limited productions even when they are in full-swing. The Eclectic will have a run of only 200. This seems to be the first time that a car has used more than one renewable energy source at once: both wind and solar in the same car.

The ranges are still small, and the top speed of the Eclectic is only 31 mph, but I think all three cars have arrived as the first practical, production, renewable energy vehicles. Of course the top two models will cost a pretty penny (and have awesome performance to match), but that’s how it is with any new technology.

You can read more, and get all the specs at the Venturi website.

The Discovery channel is 3/4 of the way through their four part series on the car of the future, appropriately called Future Car. The most recent episode was about fuel and hit on everything from ethanol, bio-diesel, hydrogen and solar all the way to having a car powered by air.

A few of the finer details are a little off, but all in all the shows have been great. It’s really cool to see what the designers are thinking about, and what is on the way. Perhaps the most interesting thing for me in this episode on fuel is that a lot of the future is already available now. Of course they showed prototype cars that can do some amazing things, but really the near future of fueling our vehicles is not so much about bringing in new technology, as it’s about getting more people on-board with the advances that are already commercially available like ethanol, biodiesel and hybrids.

One of the great things about cable is that you get more than one chance to see a good show. If you missed any of Future Car, check out the schedule for your second chance.

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The exquisite combination of exterior paint colors is used by the professional exterior designers to give a unique look to the fence gate. There is a need of fine-quality material for the establishment of driveways in the patio or garage.

Reware has a trio of nice-looking bags that have thin-film solar panels built right into them. I have not seen the product with my own eyes, or tested it in any way, but they look really cool. Check it out for yourself:

Reware solar bags

Check out the Power Pockets while you’re there, and they have some nice t-shirts as well.

This is the accessory that I have been dreaming about ever since we bought our Toyota Prius: integrated solar panels. Of course, isn’t this always the way it works? Now that I’ve found the product I’ve been hoping for, it is temporaily unavailable. I have emailed Solatec, and I will post any further info I get from them.

Solatec Roof Top Solar Panels of the Toyota Prius

Well, they did it. In East Amwell NJ Michael Strizki has managed to get himself a home that is completely powered by solar and hydrogen power. Apparently he’s not living a monk’s life either… he has a hot tub AND a wide screen TV. I hope he uses them both at once.

Since the house is a prototype it was CRAZY expensive to build, but apparently any future homes like it will be much cheaper since they have now figured it all out.

Read the full story here.

Read the back story here.

The idea of solar power holds spectacular promise. The Sun is, after all, the Sun. However, for most people, or corporations, the startup costs of installing a solar power system outweigh the financial return. It will take years to recoup the cost of putting up solar panels. However, if incentives are available to help consumers pay for initial startup, from a financial point of view, it starts to make more sense.

General Motors recently installed a large solar array at one of its warehouses in Cucamonga, California with financial backing from a variety of sources through an organization called Developing Energy Efficient Roof Systems. (DEERS) A more detailed description can be read at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/21/business/21solar.html
(Free with registration)

While this is an example of a huge corporation taking on huge contributions from relatively wealthy donors, there are options out there for the rest of us. Both Federal and State programs exist that will help homeowners pay for installing renewable energy systems in their homes. A handy resource describing these programs state by state can be found at:

http://www.dsireusa.org/

Also, many utilities allow for “net metering.” This allows energy produced by a home to flow back into the energy grid thus turning your home into a miniature power station. This has the effect of having your power meter “run backward” and lowers your electricity bill.

So, if you are considering investing in a renewable energy system for your home, the Powers That Be of our Dear Nation are prepared to help you defray at least some of the costs.