FOTOTHERM

( http://www.fototherm.com/ ) This week, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced a new financial assistance pilot for residential customers to install home battery storage systems through the statewide Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP). Approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on July 16, 2020, the pilot will allow eligible customers to install the technology at no cost to them. PG&E stated that it will provide financial incentives for customers installing equipment for generating and storing energy for their homes. Typically, a customer who applies for SGIP receives the rebate once the project is complete, requiring customers to pay upfront. Under the new plan, eligible customers pay nothing for the systems. A home battery is connected to PG&E’s electric grid and charged from the grid or the customer’s rooftop solar system, if applicable. A home battery, or solar+storage installation, can extend the homes power for several hours to sev...

[...]  Ubiquitous Energy, a California-based company, understands the homeowner’s desire to have a home filled with windows, and they want to help on a national scale. Enter the  solar, transparent window . [...] How do solar windows work? The current Ubiquitous Energy product is a 14 inch by 20-inch window. In the window industry, this is a significant threshold to be considered certified. This window size measures small for a typical commercial building window. But as Ubiquitous Energy’s small team grows, so will the windows and the overall production. “The bulk of energy potential is in infrared. If the solar panel didn’t absorb visible light, what we see as color, then you could make a transparent device, but still, make power. Not as much as silicon (what rooftop arrays use), so it’s a trade-off, but if you can do it, the idea is you can put it anywhere.” There’s still a lot to figure out how a solar window will power a home or commercial building. Curr...

Alcuni ricercatori della University of California hanno messo a punto degli innovativi pannelli "anti-solari". Essi agiscono specularmente a quelli solari,  anziché convertire la luce solare emanata dal Sole durante il giorno,  trasformano in energia il calore radiato di sera dalla Terra.   Il nuovo pannello  cattura l’energia che di sera viaggia dalla Terra verso lo spazio, sotto forma di radiazione termica , si tratta di una forma di energia che normalmente va persa. “Al fine di produrre energia elettrica dopo che il sole è tramontato, abbiamo preso in considerazione un concetto fotovoltaico alternativo, che utilizza la Terra come fonte di calore e il cielo notturno come dissipatore di calore, dando vita a una “cella fotovoltaica notturna” che impiega il fotovoltaico termo-radiativo e concetti provenienti da campi avanzati come il raffreddamento radiativo”, hanno infatti spiegato i ricercatori. The hybrid thermo-photovoltaic leading company È importan...