In Brief | Green Energy News

May 8, 2005 – Vol.10 No.7

IN BRIEF.

--- Solar diesel mini-grids will be built in about 26 villages in the Gansu Province of China that now are without electricity. RWE Schott Solar has been awarded the contract by CMC International Tendering Corp. to build the systems that, together, are expected to cost $1.26 million.

The microgrid systems will be 90-percent solar powered. Batteries and diesel generators will be made in China. Schott will also train local residents to operate and maintain the systems. RWE Schott Solar at http://www.rweschottsolar.com/ .

--- Trucks operated by utility companies to build, repair and maintain power grids - bucket trucks - may some day be diesel/electric hybrids. Hybrid bucket trucks will be able to supply electric power to several homes as power lines are repaired, be able operate silently and without pollution on battery power alone, and offer improved fuel efficiency of up to 60 percent over conventional diesels.

A few of the bucket trucks of the future are here today. Built by the International Truck and Engine Company along with the Eaton Corporation (for the hybrid drive) the hybrid bucket trucks are now being tested by utility companies ComEd of Chicago and PECO Energy of Philadelphia, both branches of the Exelon Corporation. ComEd also has a substantial fleet - 50 - of Ford’s Escape Hybrid. Visit Exelon at http:/www.exeloncorp.com/ ,Eaton at http://www.eaton.com/ , International at http://www.internationaldelivers.com/ .

--- Cabot Corporation likes the idea of glass roofing materials for their ability to bring daylight into the middle of buildings. But glass roofing is also inefficient - heat from the building is lost to the sky. Thus, material the company calls Nanogel (tm) was brought into the product line.

Nanogel is an insulating material intended for glass roofing systems. It is translucent, not transparent. (You can’t see puffy white clouds or a smiling moon.) Cabot says the lightweight material when used in glass roofing systems is five times more energy efficient than glass panels typically used in glass roofing systems.

Cabot has announced that Centerpoint, a maker of such systems, has signed an agreement to market Nanogel-filled glass roofing products. Visit Cabot at http:// http://www.cabot-corp.com/ Centerpoint at http://cptsystems.com/ .

--- More solar cells are now available for solar module makers. DayStar Technologies is now offering TerraFoil (tm)Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) silicon-free solar cells.

TerraFoil cells will be manufactured to be 10-14 percent efficient and in 100 mm -150 mm square sizes commonly used by module manufacturers. Visit DayStar at http://www.daystartech.com/ .

--- Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology - particularly for general illumination - is an energy-efficient success. But LED products are a bit expensive at the moment and the variety of products needs to grow more.

Cyberlux is adding to the growing line of LED lighting products by now offering, attractive, LED lighting solutions for closets, cabinets and under cabinet lighting. The company says the LEDs in the fixtures should last 15 years or more - longer than most people own their homes. The low-voltage (12 volt DC) lighting products are a good match with solar systems too. Visit Cyberlux at http://www.cyberlux.com/ .

--- Not only is battery technology improving, so is battery charging technology.

AccelRate Power Systems has developed battery charging technology that can reduce charging times by 80-percent. The chargers, to be built by Hawker Powersource, will be available for all conventional battery chemistries used in industrial, portable, power tool, military and transportation applications Visit AccelRate at http://www.accelrate.com/ .

--- According to the Detroit Free Press, General Motors will have their first hybrid models by 2007. (Whether this means the 2007 model year, or introduced in 2007 for the 2008 model year is unclear.)

The company announced in December 2004 that it would work in partnership with DaimlerChrysler to develop hybrid electric technology, but nothing was solidified then. The new announcement makes it look like the partnership will actually result in a product.