Sunflower is First Solar Concentrator Safe for Rooftops

Businesses will now be able to get more solar power from rooftop systems with a Sunflower rooftop solar PV concentrator system from Energy Innovations. It is the very first concentrator system to get Underwriters Laboratories certification and is deemed safe for roofs. With the certification comes qualification for much sought after solar rebates, and the company is looking to raise $20 million so they can produce and install more systems in 2009.

By concentrating sunlight more than 1,000 times, the system makes electricity cheaper than traditional PV systems. It is self-powered and doesn’t need to penetrate the roof for installation.

Firsts like this are a pretty big deal because they show the unflagging growth of solar concentration efficiency and how the technology is catching up to coal in cheapness. Underwriters Laboratories recognizes this with the opening of their PV testing lab in San Jose, the largest in North America. The plan for the lab is to open up the bottleneck in testing and certifications for solar products.

The big step forward for Energy Innovations with their certification is hopefully the first of many to come through soon.

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Nissan Eco Pedal Stops Lead-Foot Driving

A meddling gas pedal may be the key to improving fuel efficiency. Nissan has announced it will soon sell cars that push back when drivers try to drive too fast. The new “ECO Pedal” system presses back upward when it senses drivers are driving too quickly. Think of it as the mindless version of the Kiwi or all those iPhone apps.

Nissan Motor says its ECO Pedal uses a counter push-back control mechanism that detects excess pressure which will help drivers know when they’re using more fuel than required. An eco-driving indicator in the dashboard feeds the driver with real-time fuel consumption levels to help improve driving behavior. It flashes and changes colors to let drivers know when to ease up on the pedal. A green light means the driver is at optimal fuel consumption. When you feel like wasting fuel, the system can be turned off. The ECO Pedal system is fed data on the rate of fuel consumption and transmission efficiency during acceleration and cruising and calculates the optimum acceleration rate.

Nissan says it plans to commercialize the ECO Pedal next year and its own research show that drivers can improve fuel efficiency, depending on driving conditions, by 5-10%. The car company isn’t saying yet how much the ECO Pedal will add to the price of its cars. But a cheaper option is borrowing my mother and she’ll tell you when you’re driving too fast. Until the ECO Pedal is available, take my mother, please!

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Oregon Tech To Be Powered Entirely By Geothermal Energy

Written by Ariel Schwartz

College students are demanding sustainability efforts in their schools, and now universities are stepping up to the plate. This past Tuesday, the Oregon Institute of Technology outlined a plan to build a $7.6 million geothermal power plant on campus. The plant will become the sole power source for the school in a few years, making Oregon Tech the only university to be powered completely by geothermal energy.

Since Klamath Falls, the home of Oregon Tech, sits near a fault line, heat and energy can be easily taken out of the earth.

And Oregon Tech isn’t the only institution to take advantage of the abundant geothermal energy in the area.

The city of Klamath Falls operates a geothermal heating utility, using the energy to heat buildings, melt snow on the streets, and more. Raser Technologies, a company located in the city, has plans to build a geothermal plant in the city, and is looking into developing surrounding areas as well.

With Florida Gulf Coast University’s giant solar array recently in the news—and now Oregon Tech’s geothermal project—maybe we’ll be seeing some of the biggest renewable energy projects coming out of universities in the near future.

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