February 18th, 2011
Via Inhabitat.com, a brief but interesting analysis of the economics underpinning the cooling effect that white roofs have on buildings — especially air-conditioned ones — as well as their ability to drastically lower energy costs. As the article notes: Since being appointed as the Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu has been talking all about […]
Read more »SunShot Program: Raising The Roof On The Ten Million Solar Roof Initiative?
February 18th, 2011
Courtesy of Inhabitat.com, a report on the Ten Million Solar Roof Initiative proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in 2010 which aims to put solar panels and water heaters on 10 million American roofs by 2020. As the article notes, the recently-announced SunShot program aims to drastically drive down the cost of solar energy […]
Read more »February 18th, 2011
Via the Spray Foam Insulation Community Portal (an industry site), a brief look at cool roofs: As the threat of global warming becomes widely recognized, scientists have proposed using geoengineering (manipulation of the Earths environment) to quickly respond to this threat. Most proposed geo-engineering techniques are novel and unproven. Two simple technologies that have been […]
Read more »Raising The Roof On Solar: Solar Colonies Spring Up On Warehouse Roofs
February 7th, 2011
Via USAToday, an interesting report on the trend towards developing solar “colonies” on warehouses: The view from a warehouse roof here is consistent. In every direction, there are blocks and blocks of warehouse roofs baking in the Southern California sun. Rather than letting them sit bare, a California utility hopes to blanket roofs like these […]
Read more »February 7th, 2011
Via The Wall Street Journal, a look at the economics of solar water heaters: “…Bill Banack doesn’t fancy himself an environmental “fanatic,” but his showers, dishwasher and washing machine all use renewable energy these days. The source: three slim solar panels perched atop his 2,200-square foot Hadley, Mass., home. They don’t provide electricity—they send him […]
Read more »SRECs
February 6th, 2011
Via Greentech Media, a look at New Jersey’s specialized tradable renewable/alternative energy credit approach as opposed to a feed-in tariff or California Solar Initiative-type rebate: “…What’s the number one state in the U.S. for solar installations? Easy answer — California, which had more than half of U.S. demand at more than 200 megawatts in 2009. […]
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