CooL!!! SOLAR BREAKTHROUGH

[kpete]

06.27.11 — 8:11AM

SOLAR BREAKTHROUGH
New technology makes windows into solar panels.

Cecilia Militar looks through a doubled-paned Pythagoras Solar window in San Mateo that can save and generate electricity.

....................

Pythagoras Solar in San Mateo has developed a window laced with solar cells, a window that generates and saves electricity at the same time.

Thin horizontal rows of silicon cells embedded between dual panes of glass catch light from above. And through a trick of optics, the window blocks direct sunlight from entering the building, cutting the amount of power needed for air conditioning.

"Instead of heating the room, the light generates clean solar power," said Gonen Fink, chief executive officer of Pythagoras. "It's relatively simple and straightforward optics. The challenge is making everything work together."

................................


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/24/BUHP1K2FGD.DTL#ixzz1QUL1n7BH
http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/post-5.php?ref=fpblg

[a la izquierda]

1. k &r

[get the red out]

2. Wonderful!

I hope it will be implemented some day.

[meow mix]

3. cue the "this is far to harmful to produce these" defeatists

:hide:

[TheMadMonk]

8. Nah, just the ones who have lost count of all the BREAKTHROUGHS...

...which remain unrealised 5 years (and more) down the track.

Not because of oposition from any fronts, but because what looks good in the lab, proves impractical to implement on a commercial scale.

The simple truth is that the only photo-voltaic system in mass production for consumer use is the same one Bell Labs invented half a century and more ago. Improved considerably, but still only rather simple variations on that theme.

[KittyWampus]

19. Cars would have proved impractical if the US Govt (Fed/State) hadn't paved the entire country.

Railways wouldn't have proved practical unless the US Govt had done same with rails.

All the breakthroughs remain mostly in potential because those with the capital refuse to invest in anything new and want to realize earnings in every single quarter.

And also because those with capital are strangling Government as best they can so it can't invest in new technologies.

[defendandprotect]

64. Government also put the "four gas stations on every corner" ...

[JDPriestly]

72. No. The government made the corners on which the gas stations

were placed.

Towns formed around the courthouses and public squares.

[defendandprotect]

74. Government/taxpayers PAID for the four gas stations on every corner ....

[kenfrequed]

87. Good points

Ordinarily I am not a fan of government investment in private enterprise, but I think you might be right about that.

[JDPriestly]

71. It's oil and more and more iol that is impractical to implement.

We need our oil for producing chemicals, pharmaceuticals and other things we cannot make from other substances.

We should not use fossil fuels to produce energy.

We should use the natural sunlight and wind that we have been given.

The reason that the lab discoveries do not find their way into our homes is that the oil and nuclear corporations' money is invested not in getting alternative energy into common use but into preventing alternative energy from being used in our everyday lives.

[Kablooie]

14. Three baby seals must be slaughtered to produce one solar panel.

[truedelphi]

48. But I heard it is only the "naughty" baby seals

That have to go.

So it should cut down on the baby seal crime wave we keep hearing about.

[Unca Jim]

54. In that case...

Worth It!

...sorry

[Ruby the Liberal]

40. I wish I had southern facing windows.

Defeatest enough? :D

Cool idea.

[StarsInHerHair]

78. nah your friendly local power plant may build a crop-circle of mirrors to boil

water that turns into steam that then spins turbines, maybe even 1 of those new better faster turbines.

http://news.discovery.com/tech/new-solar-plant-shines-even-at-night-110624.html#mkcpgn=twnws1

[Ruby the Liberal]

97. Unfortunately, I live within 50 miles of 3 nuclear plants.

*sigh*

[Enthusiast]

83. Just like CFLs.

:hide:

[krispos42]

4. Simple, let brilliant.

If the solar panels can tilt like blinds, it would be even more effective in the early morning and late afternoon, when the sun is low.

[Overseas]

5. K&R! We need more aggressive solar development to stretch our oil supplies.

We need solar, wind and conservation technologies to help us use oil more judiciously.

Big Oil has been so reckless. We gave them billions in R&D tax cuts and they used technology that was decades old in cleaning up the BP disaster and wasted millions of gallons of oil. They used our R&D money to develop more and more dangerous drilling and very little on how to conserve oil.

[Yo_Mama]

12. Unless you go to electric vehicles

These types of things will have no impact on oil supplies.

We don't use oil for electricity in the US. Most of the one percent of total electricity generated by oil is refinery leftovers burned to manufacture electricity for refining. Net summer peak capacity here:
http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat1p1.html

Graph of generation by source here:
http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/images/figes1.bmp

This type of solar unit, depending on cost, might be great for a city like Tokyo. Japan uses more oil for electricity than we do.

In the US, the key to cutting oil consumption is to use less in autos, and that can happen from some combination of higher mileage conventional vehicles through hybrids through EVs. I should say is happening:


That graph includes ethanol blended in gasoline, so petroleum usage for auto transport has dropped more than shown. In fact, US petroleum usage is lower than it was a decade ago:

[Overseas]

16. I'd like to see electric vehicles too.

And I'd like to see electric mass transit systems subsidized as part of our defense budget.

[Devil_Fish]

61. Ask and you shall receive: Nissan Leaf, 100% Electric, no tail pipe.

http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car

[JDPriestly]

75. Wow! Great looking car.

[relayerbob]

41. We do, however,

use coal .... lots of coal, which is far more damaging pound for pound than oil.

[defendandprotect]

66. We have to stop burning fossil fuels ... and Obama has to stop pushing oil and coal -- !!

[defendandprotect]

65. Agree -- however, MIC uses 80% of our oil -- end the wars!!

We're paying $1,000 a gallon for gasoline to KBR in Afghanistan which

would keep one of our helicopters in the air about a minute!

But agree re cars -- we should be converting them -- at least using HEMP OIL --

and converting to solar battery after that --

It's the most important thing ahead of us to do --

If we're manufacturing, we should manufacture only solar electric cars --

subsidize the manufacture and the buying of the cars --

But think we have enough cars on the road -- just convert them!

Also, let's get rid of the petroleum roadways -- must be something better!!


And let's stop throwing petroleum based fertilizers all over our crops!

[StarsInHerHair]

76. I've been saying we should use Roman Conrcete for our roads, it lasted

centuries for them, it should hold up for a longer time for us, even with our large trucks-PLUS it even sets UNDERWATER!

[defendandprotect]

92. Wow -- didn't know that -- !!

Will have to look that up --

but I grew up in Greenwich Village -- and we had cobble stone streets --

and they went all the way down to the Holland Tunnel!


Thank you!

:)

[robinlynne]

53. the developments are all there, all ready. We just need the will. There is solar paint,

solar roofing shingles, you name it. if you count the wars, the price of oil is much higher than the calculations used to compare, and solar is MUCH cheaper. if you count the damage to the planet, even just cleaning up after oil spills, solar is even cheaper. Remember we are going to pay for the gulf oil spill, and the dead creatures are not coming back.

The talk that solar is too expensive is just talk. 15 years ago, electric cars were outfitted with solar panels, small little panels which easily provided air conditioning for those cars. That was 15 years ago.

[defendandprotect]

68. Didn't know that about electric cars outfitted with solar panels which provided a/c 15 years ago!

" 15 years ago, electric cars were outfitted with solar panels, small little panels which easily provided air conditioning for those cars. That was 15 years ago."

Sure missed that one!

80% of the public wants an end to the wars --


Others who have studied the loss of nature, the pollution of the planet make clear that

had we never engaged in "bus-i-ness" we'd be ahead in having preserved our planet and

our ability to survive on it.


Laboring was the only way elites could exploit for profit -- create work they could profit from.

No matter how meaningless!

[robinlynne]

90. there is a film, documentary called who killed the electric car. When I went to see it, the real

people from the film were all there to answer questions, and we went for dies in their electric cars. A few of them filed lawsuits and were able to keep their cars. The car we went for a ride in had the solar panel, which created the energy for the air conditioner and heating!!! It was rather amazing.

All it took was a law, in california, saying that any car company who wants to sell cars here had to sell a certain percent of its vehicles 100% emission free. All of the car companies made electric cars then and there. The structure for recharging in public places was put in public parking lots. There was a list of 80,000 people trying to buy electric cars. then, after 10 years of total success, someone was able to get rid of the law. They buried the cars in the desert after cutting them into one inch pieces. They had leased the cars to the owners, not sold them, and so were able to take the cars back. the few of these cars left around sell used for much more than a used regular car. there is no maintenance to do. It seems that car companies make 60% of their profits from selling cars, and another 40% from car parts used in maintainance.....There is nothing to change in an electric car except for the tires. (and I would imagine brakes.)

in other words, all it takes is one law. All of the technology has been here for a very long time.

[defendandprotect]

91. "Who Killed The Electric Car?" ... wonderful movie --

and it makes clear what can be done and how advances -- especially green --

are underemined and suppressed.

I caught up with the movie when it came out in video -- but don't recall them

mentioning the air condition -- maybe I just missed it?

Really, really tragic -- and I think it explains why people really don't get

elites and capitalism -- they don't think in these suicidal ways and can't

imagine any other human being doing it.


But capitalism is suicidal in its reckless exploitation of nature and humans.

Thanks for the info --

:)

[jberryhill]

6. That's two "solar breakthrough" stories in one week

I like the weekly solar breakthrough story.

[StarsInHerHair]

77. solar parking lot "trees" from 2010

http://www.jetsongreen.com/2010/07/green-parking-lots-envision-solar.html

http://envisionsolar.com/project-portfolio/parksolar/


http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/will-solar-trees-sprout-in-parking-lots/


I'm tired of wealthy oil/coal interests trying to stop the future

[defendandprotect]

93. Thanks --

Saved the info to spread around a bit -- :)

[Shagbark Hickory]

7. I'd have the same problem with these as regular solar panels with a shaded homesite.

And the shade is non-negotiable.

[KittyWampus]

20. The windows themselves are providing shade.

[Shagbark Hickory]

32. Right and that's helpful if you have a sunny homesite but if your homesite is in the shade...

you don't get enough sunshine for that.

[FailureToCommunicate]

44. There are solutions for some problems...

[Shagbark Hickory]

47. That is not a solution as it sets your conservation back a hundred years.

In a climate like mine (and most of the country), you'll need a lot more energy in an exposed site.

Don't get me wrong, commercially produced solar energy is the way to go in my opinion. But that's not going to happen if everyone has to crank their A/C all day long and run electric heat more in the winter.

Out west where it's a much milder climate to begin with, a home solar system is much more feasible.

[Uncle Joe]

9. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.:thumbsup:

[Sarah Ibarruri]

10. That's amazing! The media needs to start talking about this. nt

[defendandprotect]

69. I doubt that will happen -- !!!

[malaise]

11. K & R n/t

[pansypoo53219]

13. but don't you understand. the sun is FREE.

commerce can't have that.

[jberryhill]

15. So is oil, for that matter

All raw materials used to produce energy are free.

The solar panels aren't free. Neither is the stuff used to extract, transport and refine oil.

But, sure, oil is free in the ground for the taking in the same way that sunlight is free for the taking.

[canoeist52]

22. Except that sunlight can't be depleted through use.

When the oil is used it's gone.

[jberryhill]

23. Which is irrelevant to the point to which I was replying

There is a lot of money to be made in solar.

[canoeist52]

26. "oil is free in the ground for the taking " Not so.

The cost to earth's environment and to the cost of our health care makes it very expensive.

[jberryhill]

27. Then it's a good thing that semiconductor processing used in solar production is pollution free!

[druidity33]

35. Actually it's not...

you have to own the land or lease the drilling rights in order to extract oil and gas. No one needs a contract with the sun to take its energy.

:shrug:

[jberryhill]

55. Because financing the purchase of a solar PV system is free!

They just hand these things out on street corners where you live.

[druidity33]

98. Yeah

and i'm sure it's cheaper to buy the land you want to drill on and then pay to get the oil or gas out of the ground...

:eyes:

[defendandprotect]

70. Oil is free, ONLY in the sense that it's a national resource -- however ....

refineries aren't free -- nor is oil drilling --

nor are the profits for the elites and CEO's who control/privatize our oil --

The sun can't be privatized as easily -- nor controlled as easily by elites --

There aren't going to be commodity trades on the sun --

Nor are there going to be any barges out there with the SUN floating around on them

waiting for prices to icnrease -- !!

[KittyWampus]

21. That's okay, they are now beginning to tax wind, they will figure a way to tax solar.

[AllyCat]

29. Really? I had not heard that. Do you have a link or a story I could google?

Thanks!

[awoke_in_2003]

63. and we don't know where it goes at night...

Lewis Black in "Red, White and Screwed"

[slampoet]

17. This beakthrough is at least two years old. I read about it long ago.

[SoCalDem]

25. not everyone here has read what you read two years ago

:rofl:

and good news is always "in style" and timely:)

[theophilus]

39. This sort of proves a point. We hear about the breakthroughs but when

will we hear of the first 90 story building built with the technology. Not that will be time to rejoice!

[Fleshdancer]

95. According to their website, this product delivers 4x the power density of comparible BIPV

...and an "unmatched" level of energy generation per square meter. Take this with a grain of salt however since I'm basically reciting their marketing material. They also claim to provide an "excellent thermal barrier and blocks all direct solar radiation which reduces building heating and cooling costs."

If true, this is one bitchin' product.

[xchrom]

18. recommend

[SoCalDem]

24. Shingles should be solar too

and even auto paint:)

I know it's technically "difficult" to figure out the dynamics of all these things, but think of how far along we COULD have been had money-for-wars been spent on R & D into solar & wind... since the 60's when we started to really pay attention to this stuff..and especially since Carter's time in office..


Know why it hasn't happened?

Power distributors/diggers of coal&oil/transporters of coal&oil, like things just as they are.. with them fully in control of the extraction/refining/transportation and selling of your energy needs.. Why on earth would they willingly hand over any part of their business-plan..and in a way that means they eventually go out of business completely?

[csziggy]

38. There are solar shingles and flexible solar panels for metal roofs

Those have been on the market for over five years. This is the company I was looking at before we built our house:
http://www.uni-solar.com/products/residential-products/
Solar was still so expensive, we put money into making a better insulated house. Solar or other means of generating power can be added later.


There are also wind turbines for generating electricity on a residential basis, just google them

[Johnny Noshoes]

43. When you planned to build your home

did you know about or look into this possibility

http://www.enertia.com/

[csziggy]

58. No, I did not see that business

I always have my doubts about the companies that talk about passive cooling/heating for the Deep South. One of the big problems we have in this house is that the AC tends to run cooler than the thermostat is set in order to lower the humidity. I do not see any way to keep humidity low passively when the daytime temperatures are in the 90s with 90% humidity and night time temperatures drop to the 70s with heavy fog.

The other thing is that there is not one floor plan on that site I looked at that would fit my need for everything I need on a single story. While we did put a second story on this house, mostly to add bedrooms for storage and for re-sale value, I cannot access that level since at the moment I cannot negotiate stairs (maybe if I get knee replacement I can someday enjoy our upstairs.

Every one of the floor plans I looked at on their site (which seemed to have crashed before I could look at all their plans) would require an elevator or stair lift for me to access enough of the house area for my use.

I also think the space usage for their floorplans is very inefficient even considering that part of the interior floor plan is utilized for the solar gain. There is not sufficient storage, the bathrooms are too small to convert for wheelchair access, the interior spaces are chopped into too many small rooms, even in the floor plans with more square feet.

This house was built with ICF (insulated concrete forms) and is very tight and well insulated. During the summer, as I said, the AC runs mostly to reduce the humidity. During the winter, the heat barely runs. In the spring and fall, we open the windows and keep the conditioned air system turned off. Our utility bills are lower by half even though it it 1.5 times larger than the old house.

[SoCalDem]

51. don't "need" to google.. I know these exist now, but if more $ had gone into perfecting the process

in the intervening years, they would be affordable and standard by now.. The years lost cannot easily be made up..

The push-back from nefarious organizations has been nonstop because they stand to lose big-time..and we all pay the price:(

[spooked911]

80. yes, that's the tragedy

but we still have to push these new technologies as much as possible

[WillyT]

28. Way Cool !!! - K & R !!!

:bounce:

:kick:

[Bennyboy]

30. Solar + Electric Vehicle= Fvck the ENERGY CORPORATIONS...

Put panels on your roof right now. Build em yourself, but do it. Call a solar installer and let them tell you how to get rebates, subsidies etc. Most states have programs available but you need to talk to a solar intaller to be able to seaver around the stuff.

Or there are many easy to build things out there. I have a friend that built his own and now supplies all his power for his ranch. he is a handy guy so take that into consideration...Google...... "built it yourself solar" and see what opos up. Tons of companies on ther too with easy quotes....

then get an electric vehicle to replace 80% of your driving (US average) and guess what? YOU ARE NO LONGER SUPPORTING THE CORPORATIONS THAT ARE SCREWING OVER THE PLANET. You are still buying a car so that payment stays the same until it is paid off (and as a rule electric vehicles are more reliable and have fewer moving parts)

Yes keep your gas car, it will last longer. Long trips, that kind of stuff, still use it. but for most people 8 miles a day is it. Cost less to insure. maintenance....

[truedelphi]

49. I imagine a lot less maintenance.

Like no fuel filters, no oil or fuel pumps, etc. to worry about.

[PotatoChip]

31. K & R!!!

[bongbong]

33. Favorite phrase of conservatives & other corporate tools

"Solar isn't practical yet. Wait 30 years." - random (they're all the same) conservative corporate tool, 1970
"Solar isn't practical yet. Wait 30 years." - random (they're all the same) conservative corporate tool, 1975
"Solar isn't practical yet. Wait 30 years." - random (they're all the same) conservative corporate tool, 1980
"Solar isn't practical yet. Wait 30 years." - random (they're all the same) conservative corporate tool, 1985
"Solar isn't practical yet. Wait 30 years." - random (they're all the same) conservative corporate tool, 1990
"Solar isn't practical yet. Wait 30 years." - random (they're all the same) conservative corporate tool, 1995
"Solar isn't practical yet. Wait 30 years." - random (they're all the same) conservative corporate tool, 2000
"Solar isn't practical yet. Wait 30 years." - random (they're all the same) conservative corporate tool, 2005
"Solar isn't practical yet. Wait 30 years." - random (they're all the same) conservative corporate tool, 2010

[russspeakeasy]

34. Thanks for the post..

[theophilus]

36. Doubleplusgood! And the chocolate ration has been increased!

All I'm sayin' is that I weary of hearing of all the breakthroughs in solar, battery, wind, etc. and never seeing them pushed by the government or any big corporations. If these things exist and they are marketed it is just sad. I will rejoice greatly when the Tesla sedans, Leafs, Volts and whatevers clog our streets. I will rejoice when I see one frakkin' house will solarpanels where I live (and then lots more or I'll still be sad). Is news like this just released to keep us out of the streets? GET GOING WITH PRODUCING AND SELLING THIS STUFF! our lives depend on it

[PuffedMica]

37. K&R

[RedCloud]

42. Now make collectors that we can plug our Xmas lights in!

[Weird Liberal Head]

45. Awwww

They stole my idea! ;)

[DRoseDARs]

46. Not really a "breakthough" given solar PV windows have been available for the past few years now.

It's still expensive no matter whom you go to. This is just one of several variants of the theme, which is certainly good, but the hyperventilating is a bit silly. :P

[Distant Observer]

56. Depends on the COST per sq ft and installation etc. PV windows have been prohibitively expensive in

the past

Wonder what kind of pv technology they are using.

[defendandprotect]

73. POLLUTION is prohibitively expensive .... as in Global Warming ...!!

[BrklynLiberal]

50. That is soooooooooooooooooooo cool!!!

[joanbarnes]

52. Yes we can! Create new technology when we get desperate enough.

[unkachuck]

57. Great!....where's San Mateo, China?....n/t

[anthroman]

59. Solar will be economic when there are only 500 million people...

and not before. Environmental collapse is probably imminent within 50 years, not counting all the REMS from Fukashima, so, yea, in 50 years, this will be good to go...

[sce56]

60. Will they come in Port hole sizes? I could allways use more solar power for my batteries!

And I'm looking to get more of those puppies for my voyages off the grid and cut loose from the shore power cord!

[Devil_Fish]

62. Checl out Grape Solar.

I am looking into the 100 watt pannels for my boat. I don't have a lot of deck space so I will hang the pannels from the safty lines. Grape Solar has 100 watters that are 20"x40" I figure 2 should do it. I just put a 600watt wind gen on my boat, and I'm putting her on the hook at the end of the month.

[cstanleytech]

67. hmm I doubt it would be practical yet for most of us here though upgrading

existing skyscrapers and or building future ones with it might be worth the money, after all they have alot of room to take advantage of these windows.

[DesertDiamond]

79. Love this! My only question is the same as always: can it be made affordable for people like me?

Every program I've seen that purports to make solar panelling affordable is a rebate system. In other words, it's for people who already have the money to do it. Why can'tt there be a program for people who can't afford it? They could pay back the cost from what they save on gas and electric bills every month. Just a thought.

[defendandprotect]

94. We need to end the MIC and start investing in environment and humans -- !!

Our government should be subsidizing both manufacture of solar cars and

converting older cars to electric/solar battery --

Subsidizing the purchase prices --

and creating the infrastructure to support them --


What they did in California with the 4,000 or so electric cars they crushed

was criminal -- See: "Who Killed The Electric Car?"


Another immediate thing to do is start planting HEMP -- we can use hemp oil to run cars

and it doesn't impact the environement --

Growing HEMP also helps the ozone layer --

We need to take back our right and access to all of nature -- !!


:)

[spooked911]

81. we need to replace "drill baby drill" with something more catchy

"green baby green"?

"cell baby cell"?

Don't have the same ring.

[chillspike]

82. Shine, baby, shine? (nt)

[spooked911]

96. that's good!!!

I like it

:)

[Vinca]

84. Wow! What a great idea!

[timmymoff]

85. solar

The problem I have with this is I'm in the planning stages of competing with this technology. Maybe i need to see about carrying an additional product. My goal is to manufacture solar air heaters. I am currently in the seeking finances stage, but my company will go forward. It troubles me that nobody ever mentions solar air heat, even though it is one of the most cost efficient, think that is why?

[FLPanhandle]

86. I wouldn't install these yet.

The problem that I see is that the life of solar cells is much less than the life of the windows. Solar cells deteriorate quickly. Even the multi-million dollar high end cells used on satellites don't last 10 years. Installing a good set of windows should last 15-20 years.

I'd rather put the solar arrays on the roof where they can be easily replaced.

Once the life of the solar arrays matches the life of the windows, then I'd look to do this.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

88. bravo

:applause:

[DainBramaged]

89. OMG what about the poor people in the petroleum industry that could lose their jobs?

:evilgrin: