Green Education: Clean Technology

This post first appeared on Solar Power World by Frank Andorka We all know that solar is a practical, smart investment. It’s good for the environment, frees people to control their own electricity production and is one of the fastest-growing industries (read: JOB CREATORS) in the country. But one of the complaints (often heard from homeowners’ associations) is that solar panels are ugly. We beg to differ — and apparently, so do artists around the … Read More 11 Must-See Art Installations, Inspired By Solar Panels was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

This story first appeared on Renew Economy by Sophie Vorrath Australian-designed EV-charging technology has slashed the time it takes to recharge an electric vehicle, achieving as much as 80 per cent battery capacity in under 30 minutes. Queensland-based EV systems manufacturer Tritium, which evolved from an interest in providing solar racing powertrain solutions, launched its Veefil charging system in Brisbane on Wednesday – a technology it has realised with the help of a $1.15 million Early … Read More Australian-made ‘Fast Charger’ Slashes EV Charging Time was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

This story first appeared on Renew Economy by Sophie Vorrath At a time when Australian wind energy companies are turning their focus to overseas markets in the search for growth opportunities, a billion-dollar global private equity fund has announced an investment of $75 million in wind power in Australia. Denham Capital Management, a $7.3 billion US-based fund focused on mining and energy, announced on Tuesday that it had invested $75 million in a 1 GW portfolio of Australian wind … Read More Global Fund Backs Cheap Australian Wind As Local Firms Head Abroad was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

The U.S. wind industry is soaring now that last year’s uncertainty over renewal of the federal production tax credit for wind power is ancient history. A last-minute shift in Congress resulted in renewal of the credit on January 1st, and leading wind turbine manufacturer GE has just credited the credit with boosting its U.S. sales to the impressive 1 gigawatt (GW) mark in the past four months alone. The announcement came as a new GE … Read More Who’s Afraid Of The Big, Bad Production Tax Credit For Wind Power? was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

Reposted from Think Progress. By Joe Romm Last week, I wrote a piece “Extending Current Energy Policies Would Keep U.S. Carbon Pollution Emissions Flat Through 2040.” It was based on the latest report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), summed up in this chart: But EIA has modeled other cases than just one that extends tax credits for renewables and the like. In fact, EIA has a chart-creating website that allows you to pick different scenarios. Here’s … Read More Moderate Carbon Price Still Has Big Impact On Emissions was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

A new survey conducted by the British Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has found British support for renewable energies has grown in the past year. The survey, DECC Public Attitudes Tracker, was run from early 2012 through to last March. There were four surveys — one longer survey and three shorter ones — concluded with a face-to-face in-home interview with a representative sample of 2,051 households. Below are the key findings which were taken … Read More British Support For Renewable Energy Continues To Grow was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones announced last week at the Renewable UK Cymru conference in Cardiff that Wales’ first full-scale tidal energy generator has been awarded a £1.6 million EU grant to find its deployment in Ramsey Sound, Pembrokeshire. The funding comes from the European Regional Development Fund has been provided to Cardiff-based Tidal Energy Ltd for its DeltaStream tidal energy device. The company is backed by Welsh renewable energy company Eco2 Ltd. Invented by Pembrokeshire engineer Richard Ayre … Read More Wales’ First Full-Scale Tidal Energy Generator Receives Funding was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

Spanish Electricity generation from renewables in April set a new record, beating March’s previous record. PV Magazine notes renewables accounted for 54% of the country’s electricity generation in April, outpacing last month’s total of 51.8%. Spanish hydropower made up 25% of April’s overall electricity generation. Meanwhile, wind power was second with 22%. Solar photovoltaic energy provided 3.6%, and solar thermal energy had 1.3%, based on Red Electrica De Espana (REE) data. While it’s still only … Read More 54% Of Spain’s Electricity Generation In April From Renewables was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

A massive, 127-megawatt solar power installation was officially opened in Arizona last week. Block 1 (of 5) of the Arlington Valley Solar Energy II (AV Solar II) utility-scale installation is located in Maricopa County in southwest Arizona on about 1,160 acres of land. The rest of the power plant / solar farm will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2013 — one of the beauties of solar power plants is the speed at which … Read More 127 MW Solar Power Plant Opened in Arizona was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

I don’t think a day goes by when there isn’t another record broken in the solar industry. Here’s one of the latest, courtesy sister site Green Building Elements and Business Wire: NRG Energy, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary NRG Solar, announced that it will commemorate the opening of the Alpine Solar Generating Facility in Lancaster, Calif., at a ribbon-cutting event [late last week]. The 66 megawatt (AC) Alpine solar photovoltaic facility, which started commercial operations earlier this … Read More Largest Solar PV Facility In California Opens was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

Along with the well-known enemies of solar cell efficiency such as dust and pollen, a known unknown recently popped up when researchers began to realize that traces of residue left over from the manufacturing process can reduce the efficiency of solar cells, long before they are exposed to the harsh realities of the outdoor environment. Well, it looks like we can take the “unknown” out of the equation, as researchers from Argonne National Laboratory have … Read More Hi-Tech Spit And Polish Improves Solar Cell Efficiency was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

Below is a great visual one of readers just passed on to us. I think we posted it a long time ago, but I’m not entirely sure if that was here or on a different site. For sure, many of you haven’t seen it. And for those of us who have, I think it’s worth checking out again, and worth sharing! Image source unknown. … Read More Our Hourglass was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

The UK certainly isn’t in the limelight for its solar leadership like Germany, Italy, Spain, and Australia are. But, despite some clear ups and downs (and mistakes), it is progressing pretty well. In 2012, 11.3% of the country’s electricity came from renewables, compared to 9.4% in 2011. In Q4, the share rose to 12.5%. Overall, renewable electricity generation increased 20% — from 34.4 TWh in 2011 to 41.1 TWh in 2012 — and capacity increased … Read More UK Renewable Energy Growth In 2012 was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

This post originally appeared on ILSR’s Energy Self-Reliant States blog. Last week, a solar energy standard moved one step closer to passage in the Minnesota state legislature, with an innovative new approach to financing solar power.  It’s a powerful first step for what would be one of the more robust policies to support distributed, local solar power in the country. The policy has three key pieces, outlined below. A Solar Standard Following in the steps of 16 … Read More The Making Of A New Midwestern Solar Energy Standard was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).

The cost of the Chevy Volt might be cut by $7,000 to $10,000, according to recent reports. I have been following the electrification of vehicles closely since about 2008. I kept wishing that researchers would develop improved battery technology for electric vehicles, and I’ve seen it happen many times. The development of lithium-ion battery technology really is on a roll. There is now a major discovery multiple times per year. What has kept bothering me … Read More GM Aims To Cut Chevy Volt Cost By $10,000 was originally published on: CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 30,000 others and subscribe to our free RSS feed, follow us on Facebook (also free!), follow us on Twitter, or just visit our homepage (yep, free).