EGEB: Wind turbine art and music – oh my, global renewable grid, Sola Monstah!, more

Electrek Green Energy Brief: A daily technical, financial, and political review/analysis of important green energy news. Featured Image Source.

Wind Turbines as Artistic Canvas – Senvion, a German wind turbine manufacturer supports local artists by allowing them to use its turbines as an artistic canvas. Artists in Portugal and Australia have also collaborated with their local wind industry to create original works of art. Imagine painting wind turbines so they create a sort of optical illusion and blend themselves into the local environment. Could we gain optical benefit from these giant structures?

Workshops aim to train architects, engineers on solar basics – While installation costs may be dropping, costs related to permitting, designing, insurance, finance and appraisal have not moved. The goal of the training is to “provide advanced information to architects and engineers so their comfort level with the technology increases, and, ideally, the cost (of solar) is reduced. The more you know, the less fear there is.” plus Dan Lepinski, a Texas-based engineer who will serve as a trainer for the Birmingham group, suggests including solar at the time of design offers “a 10 percent savings compared to implementing after the fact,” There are two cost savings we can gain with this – smarter engineers knowing how to design solar better will create better projects, and two – solar will be integrated at time of design, 10% isn’t trivial.

Renewable interconnectors to “span the globe,” as costs fall, technology improves – “Within a few years I think you’ll start to hear talk of linking Vladivostok with London, with a 2 mega-volt cable, with a loss of 10 per cent from one side of Asia to the other.” Two companies in Australia have submitted competing bids to deliver Australian renewables to Indonesia via a sub sea cable. China is moving 12GW of electricity with a 10% loss over 3,000km. It might be time that serious people will begin laying plans to own the global electricity highways.

Japanese solar firm to take on Tesla in roof tile market – “Walls aren’t being used because panels tend to be heavy and difficult to handle,” Hirano said, adding that Solar Frontier’s new products will be thin, light and durable. The company plans to replace the glass typically used in the substrate with aluminum. I’m not sure yet what the product will look like, a cursory image search yielded little. I hope that Tesla’s roofing product is successful so other manufacturers will give development a chance. Building material integrated solar cells for all walls and roofs is a huge opportunity.

Large solar array in yard akin to monster, neighbors complain – Beverly residents who live near the 20-panel array have complained about its size and the noise it makes: The panels are based on a hydraulic structure that enables the panels to slowly turn and follow the sun. “Solar Monster” Councilor Don Martin compared the array to Fenway Park’s Green Monster. Sola Monstah! 🙂 A dual axis tracker is a healthy piece of hardware, absolutely. I’m torn – as a person who enjoys his relaxing zen, I’d prefer not having a mechanical steel structure in my yard. As a solar focused, climate minded individual – I want solar in the ground. The locals will argue and make laws, its their job. I lean toward finding a more nuanced solution for local homeowners.

Simple, powerful, demonstrable: why HJT is poised for the mainstream – The result we published with best efficiency of 24.02% on the cell side has been confirmed by Fraunhofer ISE, who carefully reviewed our IV measurements and the calibration behind the technique. It is an outstanding result having achieved 335 W power on a 60-cell glass-white backsheet module. I’m going to have a story on this solar panel soon. It’s made in Riviera Beach, Florida – on a corner in the neighborhood I grew up around. Kinda cool.

And, from the header article also – enjoy the morning man –

Featured image is screenshot from Youtube video in header article.

Considering residential solar? Understand Solar will connect you with local contractors, or allow me to give you a professional residential consultation.

For more electric vehicle, autonomous transport and clean technology news, make sure to follow us on Twitter, Newsletter, RSS or Facebook to get our latest articles.