Solar Panel Cleaner Robot

Solar Panel Cleaner RobotI am not quite sure about you, but when was the last time you saw a vacancy in the newspapers that looked for someone whose job was to clean solar panels, and solar panels alone? That does sound rather repetitive and mundane, and there won’t be too much interaction, not to mention it being rather hot assuming you were to work the normal shift hours that most of the other people put in. I guess for stuff like this, it would be far better to engage the services of a robot. After all, robots basically do not tire out (other than requiring its batteries to remain juiced), and neither do business owners have to worry about things like unions, strikes, a salary scale and all that jazz.

Miraikikai Inc. recently unveiled a prototype of what it touts as the world’s first solar panel-cleaning robot, and how does it work? It does not need to make use of water, which is a rather interesting concept, and will more or less run autonomously. Intending to market this particular robot from next year, Miraikikai will aim their focus at the Middle East and Africa, where solar power demand is rising and water being a scarce resource.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Marine Drone can help clean up the ocean [concept], Solar Electric Robot Chariot,

This SoCal Water Treatment Plant Is Powered by Poop

The Inland Empire’s cadre of water treatment plants clean millions of gallons of waste water every day. But what to do with all that left over poo? Normally it’s unceremoniously dumped in a local landfill but at Regional Water Recycling Plant No. 1, that massive pile of crap is put to a better use—making electricity with the largest biogas fuel cell generator in America. More »

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: the Soundscraper, bedroom algae biofuel lab and the revival of the gastric-brooding frog

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green.

DNP Inhabitat's Week in Green tktktk

The first week of spring kicked off with a bang for the architecture community as Japanese architect Toyo Ito was awarded the 2013 Pritzker Prize. Meanwhile Christo unveiled the world’s largest inflated indoor sculpture in Germany and MIT researchers announced plans to 3D print a pavilion inspired by the technique that silkworms use to build their cocoons. Inhabitat also showcased several futuristic skyscraper concepts — including the Soundscraper, which transforms auditory vibrations into clean energy, and the Zero Skyscraper, which is a post-apocalyptic survival structure. And we profiled some fascinating adaptive-reuse projects, including a grain elevator that was transformed into a student housing complex in Oslo and a Cold War-era missile silo that was converted into an underground home in Upstate New York.

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Apple says it now gets 75 percent of its total energy from renewable sources

Apple says it now gets 75 percent of its total energy from renewable sources

Based on the latest reports, the company once chided for making too large an impact on Mother Earth is now claiming that a full 75 percent of its energy is being sourced from renewables. Apple’s chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, informed Reuters this week that all of its data centers — including the gargantuan facility in Maiden, North Carolina — are now fully powered by renewable energy from onsite and local sources, while three-fourths of the energy used by the whole company is pulled from green sources. For those wondering, that includes solar, wind, hydro and geothermal, and the 75 percent mark is a stark 40 percent uptick from just two years ago. As for what the future holds? According to Apple: “We won’t stop working until we achieve 100 percent throughout Apple.” Alrighty then.

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Via: Reuters, Fortune

Source: Apple

Apple corporate facilities hit 75% renewable energy use in new report

Today Apple has updated their environmental page collection and have issued a new Facilities report, showing that at this point in history, global corporate facilities inside the Apple family are at a whopping 75% renewable energy use. Apple also reports that many of their facilities are running on 100% renewable energy, including data centers in Newark, CA, Prineville, OR, and Maiden, NC. These bits and pieces are part of a report that, on the whole, shows Apple to be heading directly toward a fully renewable energy future – one we’d all like to be a part of.

flyover

According to the report released this week, Apple has increased the renewable energy use at Apple corporate facilities worldwide by 114% between fiscal 2010 and 2012. Over the last three years, Apple’s now-75% global corporate facilities using has risen rapidly from the 35% it was three years ago. One example Apple is using as a key location where they’ve made significant progress is in Maiden, North Carolina.

Above: The nation’s largest end user-owned solar photovoltaic array providing renewable energy to Apple’s data center in Maiden, North Carolina.

Apple notes that their data center in Maiden is the only data center facility of its size and type to have earned full LEED Platinum certification. According to Apple, they’ve implemented the following in their Maiden data center location for the furtherance of energy efficiency and green building:

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• A chilled water storage system to improve chiller efficiency by transferring 10,400 kWh of electricity consumption from peak to off-peak hours each day
• Use of “free” outside air cooling through a waterside economizer operation during
night and cool-weather hours, which, along with water storage, allows the chillers
to be turned off more than 75 percent of the time
• Extreme precision in managing cooling distribution for cold-air containment pods,
with variable-speed fans controlled to exactly match air flow to server requirements
from moment to moment
• Power distributed at higher voltages, which increases efficiency by reducing power loss
• White cool-roof design to provide maximum solar reflectivity
• High-efficiency LED lighting combined with motion sensors
• Real-time power monitoring and analytics during operations
• Construction processes that utilized 14 percent recycled materials, diverted 93 percent
of construction waste from landfills, and sourced 41 percent of purchased materials
within 500 miles of the site

It would appear that Apple is moving in the right direction when it comes to environmental and “green thinking” concerns, especially when you compare the raw numbers they present. The one significant up-turn that can be seen in their fiscal 2012 report is in electricity usage by business unit, with their Corporate segment staying essentially equal to fiscal 2011 while both Data Centers and Retail Stores, moving from 138 million kWh to 217 million kWh for the former and 122 to 159 for the latter.

Apple has also reported that the commute their employees take on the way to work has continued to decrease both for worldwide employees and for intercampus employees. Apple offered a transit subsidy for U.S. employees in fiscal 2012 that offered employees up to $100 USD a month for carpooling, also offering them special carpooling parking spots as a bonus. Over 11,000 Apple employees took part in this program in 2012.

infinite

This report also shows that Apple has achieved the fabulous 100% renewable energy usage goal in the following locations: Austin, Texas; Elk Grove, California; Cork, Ireland; Munich, Germany – and most Apple facilities across Australia. Apple’s Infinite Loop location in Cupertino also, of course, runs on 100% renewable energy at this time.

Head in to our massive Apple hub right this minute to get more information on the goings-on in the Apple universe and stay tuned as the 2013 product range comes raining down over the next few months – we’ll let you in on it all from top to bottom! Also make sure you have a peek at Apple’s Environment Pages to see what they’re up to in the green universe.

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Apple corporate facilities hit 75% renewable energy use in new report is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Detroit Electric Intends To Roll Out A Battery Powered Sports Car

Detroit Electric Intends To Roll Out A Battery Powered Sports CarDetroit Electric, a company that has an eye (or rather, both eyes) cast deep into the future, has just announced that they intend to come up with a working battery-powered sports car this coming August. Yes sir, apparently, they will be able to roll out up to 2,500 sports cars within the time span of a year in Michigan, although there was no further zooming in on just which part of Michigan would that be. The modern Detroit Electric was founded in 2008 by a former Lotus executive, where they intend to create 180 sales and manufacturing-related jobs in the coming year, too.

All of it is pretty much on paper at this point in time, since specifics such as the planned sports car’s price, range, power or other details have remained as a secret. Of course, we do not doubt that plenty of attention would be given to ensure that a stunning design will dress the final product, in addition to offering both performance and comfort that makes it practical enough to warrant a purchase.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Volkswagen E-Up Concept Now Realized, Charging Your Electric Cars Become Easier,

Nokia Might Check out Solar Charging For Lumia Smartphones

Nokia Might Check out Solar Charging For Lumia SmartphonesThey say that a picture speaks a thousand words, so what happens when you check out an image of a Nokia Lumia handset that has the caption which goes, “Sun, sun, sun, here we come!” right under it? This particular quote might sound familiar to those who know all about George Harrison’s masterpiece “Here Comes the Sun,” although there has been some creative license attached to it that paves the way for such a change. Of course, you do not need to be a rocket scientist or a genius to figure out that Nokia could very well be working on some sort of solar charging capability with its Nokia Lumia range of Windows Phone handsets.

Remember early last year when Nokia actually laughed at the idea of relying on the sun as a potential energy source that is green, clean and affordable for smartphones? Sure, Nokia did have five prototypes to mull over the idea, whose performance of the handsets’ efficiency greatly depended on the geographical location where you are, but I guess the time is ripe at this moment to revisit the idea of solar charging capability for Lumia handsets. Surely those living in tropical countries would be able to appreciate such a move?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Paper Nano-SIM Cards Do Their Bit For The Environment, Nokia to trial solar-powered charging accessory in Nigeria and Kenya this week,

World’s largest solar power plant opens in Abu Dhabi

The Middle East is known for their vast amounts of oil, and of course the money that comes from that oil. However, the region is also getting into renewable energy and alternative methods for providing electricity, most specifically the United Arab Emirates, which is now home to the world’s largest solar power plant, located in Abu Dhabi.

shams-1

Shams Power Company has opened the new Shams 1 concentrated solar power station that has a capacity of 100 MW and can power up to 20,000 homes and save up to 175,000 tons of CO2 every year, which according to Shams, is the “equivalent to planting 1.5 million trees or taking approximately 15,000 cars off the road.”

The Shams 1 CSP plant uses over 258,000 parabolic mirrors that collect sunlight and concentrate it onto oil pipes that flow through the center of the mirrors. This heats the oil, and after being moved on to a heat exchanger, the heat creates steam that powers turbines that generate electricity. The entire plants covers just over 1.55 square miles.

Of course, this isn’t the first CSP plant to be built. These types of solar power plants date back to the 1980s where the first ones were built in California in the US. However, it wasn’t until today when the Shams 1 plant took the crown for the world’s largest CSP plant. Of course, we’ll most likely see larger ones being built in the future as green tech becomes more popular.

[via TreeHugger]


World’s largest solar power plant opens in Abu Dhabi is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Largest Concentrated Solar Power Station Starts Up In Abu Dhabi

Largest Concentrated Solar Power Station Starts Up In Abu Dhabi
Deserts, pristine beaches and endless amounts of oil and gas are not the only things Abu Dhabi is known for. It is known for its excruciating temperatures and sunshine. When you have so much sunshine, why not use it as a source of renewable energy? The Shams Power Company is doing just that, as it has now begun operating the world’s largest concentrated solar power station of 100 MW in Abu Dhabi, called Shams 1.

Shams 1 solar power station has 258,048 parabolic mirrors that absorb sunlight. At the center of these parabolic mirrors is tubing through which oil flows. The mirrors concentrate sunlight towards this tubing so as to heat up the oil, which then goes up to a heat exchanger. This heat exchanges makes steam which power turbines that produce electricity.

It is a good step from an oil and gas rich emirate like Abu Dhabi to invest heavily in renewable energy. Fossil fuels are a major contributor towards global warming and it is high time that the world comes to terms with the fact that renewable energy projects should no longer remain in research papers and presentations.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Volkswagen E-Up Concept Now Realized, Walgreens Building A Superstore That Runs Only On Renewable Energy,

Google’s St. Patrick’s Day doodle features the Irish stepdance

Google’s always ready to celebrate the holidays, and St. Patrick’s Day is no exception. Google has updated it’s search engine page with a new Google Doodle. The Doodle shows six children, each wearing a letter of Google’s name on their clothes, performing the traditional Irish stepdance. Google has had St. Patrick’s Day Doodles since the year 2000, but this is the first time in its history to have an animated St. Patrick’s Day Doodle.

Google's St. Patrick's Day doodle features 6 river dancers

Google Doodles are always a fun surprise during the holidays, or other celebratory events. The idea of Google Doodles existed even before Google went corporate. The first Google Doodle was unveiled in the year 2000 for Bastille Day by Dennis Hwang, an intern at Google. The doodle was so well received that Hwang was promoted to “Chief Doodler” (not kidding). Doodles has gone a long way since then, and there is now a whole team behind the division. The team has already created over 1000 doodles.

St. Patrick’s Day comes around every March 17th. It originated back in the early 17th century as an official Christian Feast Day. It celebrates St. Patrick and him bringing Christianity to Ireland. He’s said to have established around 300-350 churches in Ireland. However, St. Patrick’s Day isn’t strictly a religious holiday (as well all know), but also a celebration of the Irish culture.

People all around the world celebrate by wearing green and drinking as much as their wallets (or their alcohol tolerance) allow. Drinking starts in the early afternoon until late night, and there are usually parades and festivals happening all around the world. If you’re going to go out drinking today (on a Sunday no less), make sure to stay safe and never drive drunk. Spending $10-$20 on a taxi is much better than getting yourself a DUI.


Google’s St. Patrick’s Day doodle features the Irish stepdance is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.