In September the University of Colorado announced that the manufacturing of low-cost, high efficiency solar panels is nearing mass production. The technology is patented by Professor W.S. Sampath, a mechanical engineering professor at Colorado State.
The process should make the total cost to consumers as low at $2 per watt,including instillation cost, which is half of what the current cost of solar panels. Plus you can take the panels off-grid with you. They do not require plug into the grid to work, though being high efficiency, if your state allows rolling back your electric meter, you may want to.
The process to build these panels is to be fully automated with continuous production. With less then 2% of the materials used in that production needing to be recycled. These cadmium telluride panels need 100% less semiconductor material then the high-cost crystalline silicone panels.
According to AVA Solar website these panels should be in large scale production by 2009.
With state and federal incentives this could significantly lower the initial outlay homeowners would have to pay to be self-sufficient in their energy. The only stumbling block is will Fort Collins, Co approve the project to move forward.
Fort Collins, a city that takes pride in being green, is worried about the cadmium, a hazardous metal that has been linked to cancer, that is used in the process of making these panels. This also highlights that while going off-grid/green is the desire, there will be decisions that still need to be made based on our old friends money and global responsibility. We will continue to follow AVA Solar and let you know when their panels hit the market.…
I know how does that work with getting people off-grid? Well look at it as a cautionary tale of what not being self-sufficient and responsible in our resource usage of running a home can lead to. Yes, I know most of the dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay are attirbuted to commercial, but let’s just go with the flow on this one. I’m from Maryland and not being able to have crabs because the Bay isn’t being cleaned up like we were promised is a life changing event here.
Yes, I know we are not to that yet but with only a third of the population of the early ’90’s when the population really started to drop, it’s not just a nightmare. Since harvesting is less the half, 48.9 million pounds,of what it was at its peak, over 100 million pounds, over fishing being a main cause doesn’t really fit. Since sturgeon and shod have already disappeared with oysters hot on their tale, it’s starting to look like our’s favorite crustasian thinking about being next. We have started programs to oyster farm, but you can’t do that with the crab, so the only way to fix it is to get rid of the dead zones still in the bay.
While we may not see the extinction of the crab, we may see the extinction to the luxury of eating them if the population keeps dropping. With that we can now add waterman to the extinction list here in Maryland. I have heard of some stories of waterman turning to oyster framers, but that won’t work for them all and it still doesn’t clean up our Bay.
For something that has been in the works for so long and due to be finished by 2010, it’s amazing that the citizens of this state are not being more alarmed that the one thing the both sides of the bay have in common is still damaged and in some parts dying. The signs are up letting people know where the watersheds are, we have been told for over 10 years what not to do to make it worse, our children learn about it from elementary school, yet it is still able to be ignored.
If our government says that because they don’t have the billions of dollars needed to clean up the farmlands/septic systems, upgarde sewage plants, etc. Then maybe us as individuals need to stop just listening to the news stories, looking at the signs, and really hear and see them. We as a population are just as responsible for what we let run through our fields, roads, and waterways. If we want to live in a state that says it wants to be clean and healthy maybe we need to show the government and our neighbors what that looks like. You wouldn’t tell a child they need to change while you …
As of October 1, 2007 the District has begun implementing it’s Green Building Act. It has started this by:
These approaches were a result of the Green Building Task Force, a collaborative effort of green building experts, building industry professionals, nonprofits, environmentalists and government officials. To make environmentally friendly (responsible?) more attractive they found these time and yes money saving incentives for all developers to LEED the Way in all their new building projects.
We applaud D.C. for not only passing their Green Building Act of 2006, but to actual take the steps to follow it is a very refreshing change. This act not only targets public building, like most cities have passed, but also aims to require both private and public buildings to be environmentally friendly and energy saving. As of 2008 all District building will be required to go green and by 2012 ALL new/renovated buildings larger the 50,000 sf ft must be green.
Building green usually adds only 2% to the construction or up front costs. Considering the lower monthly casts in energy, waste disposal, water/sewage and just about all operation costs, that can be a great savings in the life of a building. Also taken into account the increased value, less impact on the environment, and even the improvement in general well being of those living and working in these buildings, being responsible in building just seems like the best choice.
We hope that more large, and even small cities follows the examples of our Capital.…
Denise is a tattoo artist who lives off-grid in New York State. She describes her setup.…
Solar powered LED lights in honor of Lailatul Qadr, for remote Mindanao region of Philippenes…
Tulsi, Richard Branson, Zac Goldsmith, John Doerr, Ted Turner, Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello, Luciano Benetton, Vincent Tzchenguiz,…
Kibbutz Lotan in Israel has already achieved what the governments of New York and London have recently aspired to – a working eco-neighbourhood. In this exclusive article, two residents, Sheera Cipilinski and Ryan Gluckman, describe their setup.…
UK Government launches architectural design competition to build ten new “eco towns” to be greenlit in early 2008.…
Property billionaire Vincent Tchenguiz is investing hundreds of millions in environmental businesses. He isn’t doing it for charity.…
Leonardo DiCaprio explains exactly why he spends time campaigning about Global Warming when he could be partying by a pool.…
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