Archive for category Alternative energy
Floating Solar Panels Designed for Inland Bodies of Water
Posted by Victor M in Alternative energy, Eco news on March 5th, 2011
Israel-based Solaris Synergy and French EDF Group are planning to develop a new system of floating solar panels, called AQUASUN, which has the possibility of being installed on the surface of existing bodies of water.
The panels use silicon cells, which unlike other types, are less expensive but also prone to inefficiency caused by overheating. However,this is not a problem as the water on which they’re floating acts as a cooling system.
Users have the option to add or remove panels in order to tailor the power output to their requirements. A single modular panel is capable of generating around 200 kW of clean energy.
This kind of system will not be installed in ecologically-sensitive areas or in open seas, but rather on reservoirs already in use for agriculture and industrial purposes. The water will not become stagnant because the panels are designed to allow oxygen to permeate through. So far, the companies have released a prototype that has been presented at the 4th International Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy Conference in Israel. The designers have great plans for the future. They’re planning to install AQUASUN for a nine-month test period on a basin at a hydro-electric facility in southeastern France by the end of September.
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Toyota to Release Home-Based EV Charging Stations in 2012
Posted by Victor M in Alternative energy, Eco news, Environment on February 28th, 2011
Let’s hope that this works and becomes widely available in the near future.
Toyota is planning to launch home battery chargers for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles by the end of 2012. According to the company, the chargers will be compatible with any type of EV and will come in two types. One would be for setting up in a garage and the other would protrude from the exterior wall of a home.
Toyota hopes to sell around 30,000 units in the first year. Each electric car charger will have a price of about US$2,405 (200,000 yen), including installation costs.
The company also said it will start selling Prius-based plug-in hybrids by early 2012 mainly in Japan, Europe and the United States, expecting to have sales of more than 50,000 units a year.
Unlike a a conventional hybrid, the new Prius has the possibility of being plugged in to enable longer-distance driving using only electricity. The car is expected to cost as little as $36,072 (3 million yen in Japan).
Besides this, Toyota, 0ne of the world’s largest automakers will release a model based on the tiny iQ in the United States, Europe and Japan, also in 2012.