Jetson Green

Review: Sony Reader PRS-505 Takes the Stage!

So Sony noticed that we do a lot of book giveaways here, and they offered to let us test run a sleek, shiny, silver Sony Reader PRS-505.  What's the green angle to a Sony Reader?  We can save a lot of resources if electronic readers capture the market: paper, resources to make paper, ink, transportation, space, etc.  Being avid readers, we decided to give it a shot, because, to be entirely honest, we can't stop reading!  So I opened up the box about a month ago (yep, I've been using it that long to be sure about what I say below), and I was blown away.  Seriously.  The screen is so much like paper -- I couldn't believe it.  As a result, I decided, then and there, to try to make a video so you can see what I see. 

Sopogy Shrinks CSP For Efficient, On-site Use

It seems like there's a new, cutting-edge technology in the limelight everyday and today is no exception.  You've heard of CSP -- concentrated solar power, right?  Well Sopogy has been in R&D for several years perfecting their MicroCSP technology.  They developed the above pictured application for commercial, industrial, and small utility uses.  MicroCSP takes traditional, large scale, open faced, desert, parabolic trough CSP panels and shrinks them down to 25% of the size.  The trough is between 12 and 18 feet long and is meant for distributed energy solutions from 200 kW to 20 MW.  It can be used on-site, too, whether on a roof or adjacent to a building. 

Solar Tree Concept Presents More Possibilities

Today, the writers at Ecofriend debuted this Solar Tree design by Gurdeep Sandhu.  The article doesn't present any technical specs, although it does present us with another example of what can be done with solar panels in the built environment.  Use it as a picnic awning, shade device, carport, or whatever.  As you can tell from the images, the flexible and movable wings can be adjusted to capture more of the sun's rays, although I'm not sure if those adjustments are automatic or manual.  But it certainly has kind of an industrial look that might fit into various areas of the built environment.  Something like this would be perfect if/when you have that electrical vehicle -- use it to charge up with green power.  Regardless, it's an example of one of the many possibilities created by this new green economy. 

Covalent Solar to Commercialize Low-Cost Organic Solar Concentrators

The innovators of this new technology, if they get it into production, may just be the green building revolutionaries of tomorrow.  At the end of the week, MIT engineers published research of new technology showing that the sun's energy could be harvested from a large area, such as a window, and concentrated at the edges by solar cells.  With this so-called luminescent solar concentrator, the potential for low-cost electricity seems almost within reach.  Technically, here's how it works: 

The Platinum Look of Modern Green Kansas

Just a little over a year ago, on May 4, 2007, Greensburg, Kansas was smashed by a tornado that pretty much decimated everything.  Since that time, the city has made news all over the world for its ambitions to rebuild everything in an environmentally-friendly way.  City buildings larger than about 4000 sf will be LEED Platinum, etc.  So this building, 5.4.7 Arts Center, is an example of the green reconstruction process going on in Greensburg.  5.4.7 Arts Center is the first building certified as LEED Platinum in Kansas and has some incredible green elements -- not to mention three small wind turbines twirling away above the roof line. 

[Video] Green "Rotating Tower" Planned for NYC?

I've not blogged about this interesting and innovative Rotating Tower, which was designed by David Fisher of Dynamic Architecture, because critics have downplayed the concept saying it's not capable of being built.  But now comes news that the Rotating Tower is not only on the cusp of construction in Dubai, but it's in advanced design phase for Moscow and intended for New York.  Let me say that again: Fisher intends to design a Dynamic Tower for the Big Apple!  If you haven't heard about it yet, make sure to watch the above video.  Here's the general idea:

Nation's Largest Single-Building Solar Energy Project Planned for Atlantic City

Atlantic City Convention Center has just signed a 20-year agreement with Pepco Energy Services to have a 2.36 megawatt solar roof installed on the building.  When completed by the end of this year, the project is projected to be the largest single-building solar energy project in the United States.  That's 13,321 photovoltaic panels covering roughly two-thirds of the building AND a savings of roughly $4.4 million in electricity costs over the 20-year deal. 

Super Efficient SolarDuct Co-Generates Electricity and Heat Energy!

Conserval Engineering just announced the release of their newest product, SolarDuct PV/T, which is a rooftop solar PV system that goes beyond generating renewable energy from on-site solar power.  With the SolarDuct PV/T system, solar panels are mounted on metal collector panels that channel excess heat from the solar array into the building's HVAC system.  As a result, this system, which is part photovoltaic and part thermal, can generate electricity and put heat to use when heat is needed in the building.

The Landscape House Illustrates Smart Green Design

This is The Landscape House, a concept designed by Maul Dwellings that won the AIA's 2006 Committee on Design competition to design "A House for an Ecologist."  Although the concept was originally planned as field residence for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it's also an example of the smart integration of design, technology, and sustainability.  The Landscape House features a double roof to enhance natural air circulation, operable louvered shutters that harvest energy, a Water Pod that houses all the efficient plumbing systems, and a solar dehumidifier unit that captures moisture from the air to produce distilled drinking water. 

[Video] Peel and Stick Solar For Commercial Buildings

Lumeta has developed what's said to be the world's first commercial-scale, "peel and stick" solar modules called Lumeta Power-Ply 380.  The Power-Ply solar modules use adhesives to attach to the roof, making the system a cinch to install.  The short video below shows two guys installing six modules on a roof in roughly 34 minutes -- it seems so simple anyone could do it!  Of note, the 4' x 8' modules don't require roof penetrations or mounting systems, as opposed to most solar power systems.  You may also note that the flat roof style installation sacrifices the optimal solar angle (and loses about 5% of the power production), but Lumeta is confident that the benefits to the peel and stick solar product outweigh the slight losses in production.