Hybrid News

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Solar, UK

We’d imagine that the UK Petrol Retailers Association would have a vested interest in making the business model of the tried-and-true gas station survive. So, we aren′t all that surprised to read about the group’s suggestion that future gas stations should carry solar roofs that feed power into electricity dispensers, especially now that the Prime Minister has pledged large sums of money for EV development. The alternative, of course, would be to charge your electric car’s battery right at home while it’s not being used. If you wanted to go renewable, you could set up your own solar or wind-powered charging station right in your garage. Still, there are a number of individuals who don′t have a place to store their cars, let alone its associated charging gear, so the idea of stand-alone charging stations definitely has some merit. Whether or not these solar stations deserve any government help is another matter entirely.

[Source: Auto Express]

UK Petrol Retailers Association suggests solar-powered EV stations originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Solar, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Austin Alt Car Expo

When I head just how (comparatively) cheaply you can get solar panels installed in Austin, Texas, I was pretty jealous. The real short version is that a $20,000+, 3 kWh system can be yours for around $6,000 thanks to local and federal tax breaks. And considering the amount of sunshine that Austin gets, this is a real deal.

I head these numbers while hovering around the Lighthouse Solar booth at the Austin Alt Car expo this weekend. The company can add the aforementioned solar panels to your roof or build an entire carport out of the way cool panels. To give you an idea, the carport in this picture is a 1.7 kW size. Depending on the location, it might even make sense to use the special double-sided solar panels. Light-colored concrete and pools, for example, reflect a lot of light upwards and the collectors on the bottom of the glass can suck up the energy just as well as the ones on top.

There are about a half-dozen companies in the Austin area that can install solar panels, and the tax credits would apply no matter who you choose. Even with this many companies offering solar services, Lighthouse has done around 50-60 this year, which I think speaks volumes to the potential of solar energy if it’s made affordable.

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Solar, Volkswagen, Green Daily

Utah is a state that gets a lot of sun but not a lot of attention on these pages for their green transportation moves. Still, it does seem that the DIY crowd is strong there. Remember the homemade Ariel Atom? That’s not the only homemade vehicle taking to the street in the state.

Kyle Dansie and Michael Mielke run ZEVUtah (Zero Emission Vehicles of Utah) and are two strong proponents of taking control of your transportation energy sources. The Salt Lake Tribune ran a story recently about the 1994 VW Golf that the two converted to all-electric drive with solar panels on the roof. They draw extra power from the solar panels deployed on the roof. This isn’t an EV for everyone, but the 65 mph top speed and 40 mile range should be enough for most people to use on a daily basis - at least, people who can swallow the $10,000 price tag for the electric components on top of whatever it costs to buy the Golf. There’s a multimedia slideshow of the converted car here and ZEVUtah contains detailed descriptions on what happened during the conversion and explains why decisions were made as they were. Very helpful if you’re thinking of tinkering yourself.

[Source: Salt Lake Tribune]

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Solar, Toyota

Solar power is nothing new to Toyota, but the company’s latest solar array does offer something new to North America: the largest such single-roof installation on the continent.

According to Toyota, a new huge solar set-up (it covers 242,000 square feet and is made up of more than 10,000 modules) is gearing up for an early October start on the roof of Toyota’s North America Parts Center California (NAPCC), located in Ontario, Calif. This solar farm is bigger than any other such installation and will produce 3.7 million kilowatts a year, almost 60 percent of the energy needed at the NAPCC. The installation was put up by SunPower. In related news, two Toyota dealerships were awarded LEED status, with more on the way. Click past the break for the details.

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading Toyota will put North America’s largest single-roof solar installation on CA parts center

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chevrolet, GM, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily

Over at the RenCen yesterday, AutoblogGreen sat down with Britta Gross, GM’s manager of Hydrogen and Electrical Infrastructure Development and Strategic Commercialization, and Mark Duvall, program manager at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), to talk about how the Volt - actually, how millions of Volts and other plug-in vehicles - could change the way electricity is thought of in the U.S., and what the automaker and utilities are doing today to get ready for the day when it’s normal to plug in your car.

Gross said that GM is working with dozens of utilities to figure out how to best sell the public on plugging in a car. AutoblogGreen readers might be anxiously counting down the days until their garage becomes a fueling center, but there are a lot of people who just don′t get what plugging a car in might mean, and we could all use a bit more information, no? The major automakers have a long way to go before everyone knows what PHEVs are and how to best use them. Duvall said that it’s not just the batteries in the Volt, but also what might happen to li-ion automotive batteries after they’re used in cars that presents a real opportunity for consumers and utilities for energy storage from wind, solar or just nighttime power. It was an interesting talk, and you can listen in here (21 min):

For more from Duvall, click here.

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Solar, USA

Lest you think that it’s easy to make a competitive solar racer, take a look at the videos of the University of Texas’ Samsung Solorean (the name is a reference to the DeLorean from the Back 2 The Future movies), which are pasted after the break. In a nod towards that movie car, the portal to enter the solar racer opens gull-wing style. Pretty cool. The SunPower A300 solar cells, which cover the carbon fiber body with a Kevlar enclosure, can generate 1.1 kW of power. An on-board battery pack is made up of 598 18650 cells from LG and are controlled by a ton of sophisticated gadgetry. All of this stuff, along with the driver of course, is contained inside a nicely triangulated chromoly tube chassis. Integrated hub motors which run at 110 volts of AC power are wrapped in Bridgestone Ecopia tires inflated to a staggering 110 psi and specially made for solar car racing. Very impressive work, but - and here’s the hard part - mechanical problems kept the team of competing. Thanks for the tip, Curtis!

[Source: Engineering TV]

Continue reading Wonder what it takes to build a competitive solar racer?

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Hybrid, Manufacturing/Plants, Solar, GM

GM’s hybrid transmission plant goes solar

This sounds like it must have been a really easy decision for General Motors: Install a brand new solar array which will provide 1.2-megawatts of power - enough to cut its electricity bill by 20-percent per year beginning in 2009 - for free. We wish somebody would make an offer like that to us. Unfortunately, our homes don′t quite have the 300,000 square feet of roof space necessary to hold the 8,700 solar panels. Although the General already has two warehouses with solar roof installations, the White Marsh plant is the first factory to be so equipped. SunEdison will put up the panels and make money by selling the electricity that GM doesn′t use.

What’s especially cool about this particular story is that the White Mash plant in Maryland is where the Allison transmissions are built, including the 2-Mode unit used in the Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon twins, Cadillac Escalade hybrid SUVs and soon for the 2-Mode-equipped hybrid full-size trucks. Also of note is the fact that all the waste heat from the factory is reused and it reached landfill-free status in 2007.

[Source: The Detroit News]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Solar, Green Daily

Click above for a few more shots of the World’s Smallest solar racer

These days, one of the most-heard complaints about cars in the United States is that they are too large. Each new generation, for some reason, needs to somehow one-up its predecessor by adding a few inches of girth in every direction. Today we find a new car which bucks this trend, and it’s solar-powered to boot. While it’s not likely to make much of a difference on our nation’s roadways, it’s still really cool and worth sharing. Measuring just 33&times22×14 millimeters and fitted with a tiny solar panel at the top, this pint-sized solar racer is capable of running on light from the sun or even from a bright lamp indoors. Want one? It’s available in the U.K. for just &pound11.99, which equates to about $22 in the States. Thanks for the tip, Shrawan!

[Source: Inhabitat via IndianAutosBlog]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Solar, Nissan, Green Daily

While solar-powered cars have a long road ahead of them before there is any real chance that our daily driven vehicles will be powered by nothing more than the sun (not counting large arrays powering a single electric car), a small smattering of solar cells hooked up to a car battery is enough to keep the ancient lead-acid lump charged up. Some dealerships have chosen to purchase these small solar chargers individually, and now it appears as if Nissan as a whole will be doing just that for dealerships carrying its vehicles. All North American and European Nissans will be equipped with solar chargers from ICP Solar, as the two companies announced recently.

Tom Clark, Nissan’s vice president of sales for the Americas said, “With the new generation of cars including more and more electronics embedded such as GPS navigation systems, DVD player, cruise control, hands-free cell phones, and voice activation, the battery drain on new cars will become more of an issue for major automotive manufacturers and car dealers.” Considering how long Nissan’s Titan truck is sitting unsold — the company has an almost unbelievable 489 day supply — perhaps this wasn’t a difficult decision to make.

[Source: CNET]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Solar, Tesla Motors, USA

Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria recently got some face-to-face time with Elon Musk, who, as you surely know by now, is one of the “product architects” at Tesla Motors. There were plenty of interesting quotes to come from the interview, but a few truly stood out from the rest. For instance, Musk slams plug-in hybrids pretty mercilessly while also claiming that the “a majority of all new cars produced in the United States, perhaps worldwide, will be electric. And I don’t mean hybrid. I mean pure electric,” within just thirty years. What’s more, Musk adds that one of his other start-up companies, SolarCity, has the solution to what he refers to as the “‘long tailpipe′ criticism,” where EV opponents point to the fact that much of the electricity in the U.S. comes from dirty sources such as coal. A small solar-panel setup of about 10 by 15 feet [is enough] to generate 200 to 400 miles a week of electricity for your car,” according to Musk. We can get behind the idea of charging our own electric cars for the week with our own solar array mounted atop the roof our our garage. Maybe in thirty years that won’t sound so far-fetched.

[Source: Newsweek]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Etc., Manufacturing/Plants, Solar, GM

The General Motors factory in Zaragoza, Spain is set to get a roof tiled in solar panels as part of a larger initiative throughout GM’s European operations. 183,000 square meters of photovoltaic cells will be capable of providing up to a quarter of the factory’s peak demand. Zaragoza is GM’s biggest European factory, and the project will cost &euro50m, though its benefit will be significant reduction in energy bills for the automaker. GM has 19 other plants in Europe, and the Saint Petersburg factory is next on the list for the solar treatment. Other locations may follow, though some are likely better suited than others due to a variety of environmental and business factors.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub Req]

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Original post by Dan Roth

Filed under: Hydrogen, Solar, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Holidash

It’s almost Christmas, so I compiled a list of the top 10 green toy cars for you. Any toy on this top 10 list would be a great gift for that green, gear-head kid (or kid at heart) on your Christmas/holiday shopping list. The list includes toy cars that are created or powered in green ways such as wooden or solar powered toy cars. I’ve also included several videos previewing the toys and after reading this list, I really hope you shy away from regular plastic, battery-powered RC toy cars.

1. Wood Toy Car. Plastics are apart of almost every toy but there are a few wood car toys out there like cars from Automoblox and Playsam.

2. Fuel Cell Toy Car. There are several very good fuel cell toy cars but the best looking ones are the H-Racer and Hydrocar.

3. Solar Powered Toy Car. There are lots of cool, solar toy cars but I really like tiny, solar cars like the Owi.

4. Wind Powered Toy Car. This is the only wind powered kit I know of that comes with a toy car but the Windlab Junior is also a very good wind turbine toy.

5. Wind Up Toy Car. There are a few good rubber band cars but nothing beats the old, metal key, wind ‘em ups.

6. Flex Fuel Toy Car. I am cheating a little here because diecasts are not exactly toys or green but you can find almost any car in diecast form usually with fine details like working doors.

7. Pixar Cars Fillmore Toy Car. The character Fillmore in the Pixar movie Cars is a VW Bus that liked to burn alternative fuels.

8. Gravity Powered Toy Car. Good ol’ gravity powers these races cars in this double spiral race track toy from Fischer Price.

9. Air Powered Toy Car. Not quite at the level of complexity of the Air Car but balloon toy cars are very popular and fun.

10. Fair Trade Toy Car. That smiling, little toy car may not look like much but a lot of thought went into it; it’s Fair Trade, made with sustainably-harvested wood, vegetable dyes and non-toxic coating.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Lascelles Linton

Filed under: Etc., Solar, Green Daily

Swiss teacher Louis Palmer wanted to demonstrate the capabilities of solar power so he created the sun-fueled vehicle shown above. Then he set out to circumnavigate the globe. He set out from Lucerne, Switzerland last July on a year long journey that so far has carried him through Europe, the Middle East, and India. Palmer’s three-wheeled, two-seater carries a taxi sign because Palmer is offering rides to anyone who’s interested as he makes his trek in the Solar Taxi. This week he tooling around Bali, Indonesia while the UN holds a climate conference there. The solar taxi tows a trailer with extra solar panels bringing the total cell area up to 65 sq. ft. To date he has covered almost 9,000 miles and we’ll be looking for Louis when he makes his way to the U.S. next year on his way home later in 2008.

Related:

• Swiss solar taxi starts ’round the world drive Tuesday (video)

[Source: Reuters]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Solar, Green Daily

Don’t run yet! I’m the first who would like to cover my car with film and get it powered to run on photovoltaic energy, but that option isn’t hear yet. New research could make it a little bit closer, though. Physicist Neil Greenham from Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory had been researching polymer light emitting diodes (LEDs), used for displays in some televisions, MP3 players and mobile phones. But then he joined a research group trying to use similar polymers to generate electricity from light. Now, his work has resulted an organic solar cell that doesn’t use expensive silicon. Silicon-made photovoltaic panels are expensive, heavy and not very green to make.

Nevertheless, this technology has a drawback: very low efficiency. While state-of-the-art silicon panels can yield 40 percent efficiency, commercially available panels usually get about 15 percent. Greenham’s target is 5 percent, which could power many types of devices with a cheaper cost. To make things more interesting, the scientists want to “print” solar cells with an ultra-thin mix of two semiconducting polymers on a flexible plastic backing up to one meter wide. The process, which would be low-temperature, would have a much smaller carbon footprint.

Related:

• Jay Leno’s Big Dog Garage needed $450,000+ to make it green
• More on Steve Titus’ new Solar Bug - price revealed, along with high-res photos
• Solar Miata: the ideal car for a sunny day is now powered by the sun

[Source: Desolasol]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Xavier Navarro

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Transportation Alternatives, Green Daily, Lightweight

The video above is all about Ross Lovegrove’s electric car that doubles as a street lamp. We wrote about the Ross’ concept car, which is also solar powered and super lightweight, in a post about a Ted Talk he gave in June. If that’s too realistic for you, below the fold is a video from a 1958 Disney TV show titled “Magic Highway USA” with wild visions of our automotive future.

Disney predicted that after the gas cars, “more efficient″ gas turbine cars would become popular, then speedy jet cars, nuclear powered cars (why not?) and last but not least, solar powered hovering cars. A lot of the other ideas in the Disney video are wrong as well but several were spot on: like GPS maps in cars (except they thought punch cards would store the map data) and rearview TV instead of rearview mirrors.

I hope Disney is right about that hovering solar car. They look like fun.

[Source: YouTube]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Lascelles Linton