When you buy a house, there’s no clear way to know what you’re getting. There’s no miles per gallon sticker, as with cars, or nutrition label, as with foods. You’ll…

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March 5,2010 –

Toshiba is setting its sights on the domestic Japanese home solar system market, signing a third-party US panel supplier to help build the cornerstone of a new residential solar offering.

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SunRun is happy to announce that for the first time ever, New Jersey homeowners can go solar for $0 down!  Now, with SunRun, New Jersey homeowners can get their home solar panels installed for free and start saving money immediately with SunRun power plans.

We’re so excited about the news and the fact that now, every New Jersey homeowner who wants home solar can now afford it.  Since SunRun began offering home solar in New Jersey earlier this year, we’ve partnered with trusted, local installers Mercury Solar Systems and Trinity Solar, and signed numerous New Jersey homeowners.  We are confident that this will bring us closer to our mission of making solar affordable to every home in the country.

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The hottest thing in alternative energy right now is the Bloom Box. That clever, standalone fuel cell that its creators say could erase the need for grid-tied energy systems, power lines and even utilities. Since its revelation on 60 Minutes last month, followed by a much-hyped presentation at eBay headquarters in Silicon Valley, the Bloom Box has received a lot of attention. Enough, you would think, to make utilities nervous. After all, they can’t very well make money if nobody’s connected to their electric grid.

Pish-posh, says Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), a major investor-owned utility serving northern California and a leader in renewable energy. CEO Peter Darbee insists that the release of the Bloom Box does not signal the end of the utility. Bloom Energy, maker of the Bloom Box, wants to see one of their models in every home and business, thus annihilating utilities. Darbee countered that notion by simply pointing to costs. He says the Bloom Box is more expensive than solar power and other renewable resources and therefore has little chance of driving utilities into oblivion.

Darbee noted that there is still a big gap between current electricity prices and the prices that Bloom Energy was suggesting on 60 Minutes. Solar power costs are dropping and, while Bloom may be able to bring costs down eventually, as yet the electricity prices that Bloom is able to offer its customers are much more expensive than other renewables.

Bloom Boxes are fuel cells that use ceramic disks and special black “inks” to convert hydrocarbons (typically methane) and oxygen into usable energy. eBay has five of the boxes installed at its headquarters and claims to have saved some $100,000 on energy costs in just nine months. Bloom Energy bills their boxes as cheaper than solar power, a statement that PG&E shrugs off as simply not true… at least not in California. Darbee added that he expects to see “incursions” of fuel cell technology, but in no way is that a harbinger of demise for the utility.

Via San Francisco Business Times

Photo Credit: mocha gala & Christian Science Monitor

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You know what the world needs? A plug-in hybrid that can go from 0-60 mph in three seconds. Soon, fast-driving, sports-car-loving greeners may be able to enjoy the fast lane guilt-free with Porsche’s new plug-in hybrid concept car. Unveiled the night before the Geneva Auto Show, the Spyder 918 allegedly has a 500 horsepower V-8 engine and can hit 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, all while getting 78 miles to the gallon. A pair of electric motors offer another 218 horsepower.

If it sounds strange that a 500 hp motor could get 78 mpg, join the club. All we have to work on in terms of performance stats is what Porsche and its parent Volkswagon are telling us — not to imply that they are deliberately misleading us. The concept is actually quite exciting; such a high-powered hybrid could make waves in the auto industry. But it is still a concept, and how it translates into reality remains to be seen. Although, Porsche’s chairman was careful to point out at the unveiling that his company has yet to make a concept car that it didn’t take to production.

It seems unlikely that the real Spyder’s performance stats will live up to the concept, but even if it comes close, it will definitely have an impact. Apparently, the concept car can go only 16 miles on electricity alone, so the vast majority of power and drive must come from gasoline. To me, that means Porsche must’ve really tweaked their engine to squeeze 78 miles per gallon out of it. The technology is fascinating. I have no doubt that if the Spyder 918 becomes reality, 1 percent of the world’s population that can afford it will definitely enjoy the ride. Look out, LA freeways!

Via Treehugger

Photo Credit: Automoblog & CNET

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Researchers have found a better way to trap light in photovoltaic cells through the use of vertical arrays of silicon nanowires. This could substantially cut the costs of solar electric power by reducing the quantity and quality of silicon needed for efficient solar panels.

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Sacred Heart Schools’ new Michael J. Homer Science and Student Life Center in Atherton broke some records recently. It’s the first school to obtain LEED Platinum certification under the LEED…

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