Solyandra, a california based solar panel company, has faced a lot of contravesy since August. 2011 when it claimed banckrupcy and abruptly laid off all off 1100 employees.

The employees were not  provided severence pay or a reimbursment of their owed vacation.

The company had created their business off of manufacturing thin silicone-free panels at a time when silicone prices had been at a record high. Unfortunely, when the prices of silicone deflated, the company could no longer compete with companies who sold more efficient panels at a better price.

The FBI bagan an investagation over the summer and the company has been sued by it’s employees for laying them off with little to no warning or compensation.

Solyandra was granted a $535 million dollar loan guarantee to stay affloat.

When asked why he thought that Solyndra was picked for the loan, this is what a  former employee had to say to CARE2.com:

“Solyndra had very innovative technology, with solar panels that were totally different from anything else on the market. Our panels were designed for large rooftops, and there was a significant niche in the market that would have enjoyed greater benefits from our panels than from others. Even though the cost of manufacturing Solyndra panels was higher than others, our panels were easier, faster and therefore cheaper to install. Also, Solyndra was one of the first to apply for a DOE loan. The process began under the Bush administration, leading to final approval under President Obama.”

“Three’s quite a bit of back and forth across the political aisle about Solyndra.” said Tim Warstall of Forbes.com. “Does throwing &500 million at a company that failed show that all government tech pump priming is a waste of money? From the other side, well, sure, some will fail but the program as a whole is going to deliver just great results”

Although Solyndra could not last on it’s own, I do not think that it says anything about renewable energy in general. Without the governments support, it will be much harder to switch over to renewable energy. It is a shame because it is so beneficial to our generation and the generations to come.

Check out this NBC News Coverage on Solyndra

In our class on 2/14 we did a lab on photovoltaics. This is basically the process of how solar panels work to run electricity in “green” homes. It was a really cool experiment because we had the chance to see energy generated with nothing but a flashlight (which served as representation for sunlight)

 

 

To perform this experiment we attached our small solar panel to the NXT robot and connected to lab view. We would then set our light intensity to a constant level and use distance as a variable. When we ran each test from different distances, lab view recorded the respective amounts intensity of the light reflected on the solar panel. It was pretty obvious to us before we even did the runs what our results would be. The farther the panel was from the light source, the less the intensity.

(INSERT GRAPHS FROM COMP WITH EXCEL)

After we discovered how distance correlated with intensity, we than studied how changing the color of the light would effect the voltages produced.

This experiment demonstrated how the different wavelengths along the electro-magnetic spectrum effected the amount of energy produced.

It became obvious that the darker the color of the slide placed in front of the light, the less energy produced. Perhaps this is why solar panels do not work to their best on gloomy days.

Our results are displayed below.

(insert graphs)

Hydrofracking is a new development in extracting natural gas from dense shale. This process is economically efficient, but is supposedly environmentally unsafe. Let me explain how.

After companies have cut down miles of trees and shrubs on site, they set up their chemicals, equipment, and truck in the water.

Next, they drill down, then horizontally, for  8,000 feet in each direction.

During this process, 6-8 millon gallons of freshwater is used. Then, sand is used to hold open the holes so the gas can seep through the pores in the shale. The companies then use diesel fuel, biocides, benzene (an additive to gasoline and industrial solvent), and hydrochloric acid, in addition to undisclosed chemicals to make the process more timely and efficient.

It has also been a concern that the change in geology leads to an increased risk of seismic disruptions, such as earthquakes.

The biggest issue, perhaps, is that the identification of some chemicals are considered “property” of the companies. Residents of nearby towns are not aware of what they are being exposed to and it has left them feeling threatened and defeated. Additionally, the millions of gallons of chemically induced water left in the ground is not bio-degradable and it will linger long after our existence.

 

This video explains the effects of hydrofracking in New Jersey:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_8apSBNY1Y

(note: As a journalist she should not have given her opinion– but hey, it is youtube)

 

 

http://www.natlawreview.com/article/risks-hydrofracking

http://www.peacecouncil.net/NOON/hydrofrac/HdryoFrac2.htm

 

 

In today’s class we produced electricity by shaking a flashlight powered by our own work, a magnet, and coils. This experiment demonstrated Faraday’s Law. When the magnet inside of the flashlight changes direction, electricity is produced   The greater is the change of direction within the currents, the greater electric currents will be produced to power the flashlight.

 

 

Using Labview we recorded how many times we shook the flashlight in 30 second intervals, and the program assessed how much electricity was produced. As expected, the faster we shook the flashlight, the more electricity produced, and the longer the light would stay on.

Using Excel, we then graphed our results on a scatterplot to illustrate our conclusions.

 

 

For some reason, the labeled axis did not save to the file:   Y= Sum of the Square of the Voltages and X= # of shakes.

 

 

 

 

 

In our class on 2/01/12 we experimented with Newtons law of motion: F=Ma.

 

Using a string pulley connected to the Mindstorm Battery and a set of weights, we looked at the changes in acceleration with a constant power level and changing mass, and then a constant mass and changing power level.

First, we set up our pulley and battery.

Then we set the power level on Labview to a constant rate of 75. When adjusting the mass, we added or subtracted weights from the pulley to determine  how the changes will effect the speed of acceleration. We did 4 runs.

Next, we set a constant mass of .21kg and adjusted the power level to see how that would effect the speed of acceleration. We also did 4 runs with a constant mass.

Conclusions:

It became clear through 4 trials that the more mass an object has the less acceleration, at a constant .

We also learned that increasing the power level, while keeping the mass constant, the acceleration will increase.

 

 

 

Using lab view and excel, we tracked the changes and then graphed the conclusions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With gas prices as high as $4 a gallon in summer months, automobile industries have been assessing ways to give us more miles per gallon. It is all about burning gas efficiently and being “eco-friendly.”

Recently imposed government mileage regulations will force automobile companies to produce cars averaging 54.5 MPG by 2025. Meaning: in 13 years the average car will be burning as much gas as today’s hybrids.

How is this possible?

 

 

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““The average car in 2025 will get the kind of mileage that today’s Toyota Prius hybrid gets, but we’re not talking about some futuristic technology,” said Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Campaign, a Washington organization that promotes efforts to mitigate global warming. “Most of the changes will be invisible to the consumers and achieved with better engines, transmissions and aerodynamics.”

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Smaller Cars:

This one is pretty simple– The smaller the car, the more miles you will get out of each gallon of gas.

Grand SUVs may offer lots of leg room and get great pick-up, however they are also much heavier and cost much more to fill up than lighter more compact sedans. Car companies are all racing to find the lightest, safest materials to use in there newest creations.

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Direct-injection technology:

Gasoline direct injection (GDI), also known as petrol direct injection or direct petrol injection, is a variant of fuel injection employed in modern two-stroke and four-stroke gasoline engines. (wiki)

These mixtures are much leaner than in a conventional engine and reduce fuel consumption considerably.

• Ultra lean burn mode is used for light-load running conditions, at constant or reducing road speeds, where no acceleration is required. The fuel is not injected at the intake stroke but rather at the latter stages of the compression stroke, so that the small amount of air-fuel mixture is optimally placed near the spark plug. This stratified charge is surrounded mostly by air, which keeps the fuel and the flame away from the cylinder walls for lowest emissions and heat losses. The combustion takes place in a toroidal (donut-shaped) cavity on thepiston’s surface.^[1] The cavity is displaced to one side of the piston, the side that has the fuel injector. This technique enables the use of ultra-lean mixtures that would be impossible with carburetors or conventional fuel injection.
• Stoichiometric mode is used for moderate load conditions. Fuel is injected during the intake stroke, creating a homogenous fuel-air mixture in the cylinder. From the stoichiometric ratio, an optimum burn results in a clean exhaust emission, further cleaned by the catalytic converter.
• Full power mode is used for rapid acceleration and heavy loads (as when climbing a hill). The air-fuel mixture is homogenous and the ratio is slightly richer than stoichiometric, which helps prevent knock (pinging). The fuel is injected during the intake stroke

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(eAssist)) EcoBoost technology

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmHxiY2J8Ok

 

EcoBoost is a combination of direct injection and turbocharging, boosting 4 and 6 cylinder engines. The process improves fuel economy by about 10 percent over the conventional V-8.

 

 

 

References:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/automobiles/automakers-aim-to-meet-mileage-standards-without-big-sacrifices.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fordmotorcompany/3191681692/

http://www.youtube.com

I had absolutely no idea what demand response was before this assignment, so it took some time to ween through lots of information to find something valuable to use in my blog.

Finding something interesting was the real challenge… that I did not overcome.

 

Demand response allows us to reduce energy consumption during peak hours of the day.

When we flip a switch we expect the electricity to be there, but how does it get there? That is the work of the grid, a web of high voltage transmission lines.

When you turn on a light, electricity travels in an instant to your home and the bulb glows — that’s called demand.

Demand Response comes in three forms – emergency demand response, economic demand response and ancillary services demand.

1. Emergency demand response is employed to avoid involuntary service interruptions during times of supply scarcity.

2.Economic demand response is employed to allow electricity customers to curtail their consumption when the productive or convenience of consuming that electricity is worth less to them than paying for the electricity.

3. Ancillary services demand response consists of a number of specialty services that are needed to ensure the secure operation of the transmission grid and which have traditionally been provided by generators.

Demand response is what protects a city of neglectful consumers from blacking out and is generally used to refer to mechanisms used to encourage consumers to reduce demand.

BUT WHY WOULD BIG BUSINESSES BUY INTO THIS?!

Well…

Corporations that participate in demand response programs can receive cheaper electricity rates, or rebates at the end of the year.

I guess a little incentive can make anyone eco-friendly.

 

 

 

 

 

Resources:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/demand-response.htm

http://www.pge.com/demandresponse/

www.eia.gov