The Energy Blog

FYI: GE Demonstrates World's First ''Roll-to-Roll'' Manufactured Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs

Press release - GE Global Research and GE Consumer & Industrial in conjunction with ECD announced the successful demonstration of the world’s first roll-to-roll manufactured organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lighting devices. This demonstration is a key step toward making OLEDs and other high performance organic electronics products at dramatically lower costs than what is possible today.  . . .

OLEDs have the potential to deliver dramatically improved levels of efficiency and environmental performance when compared to traditional products.

GE researchers provided the organic electronics technology and were responsible for developing the roll-to-roll processes, while ECD provided its unique roll-to-roll equipment-building expertise to build the machine that manufactures the OLED devices.

When commercialized this technology will make possible low cost high, efficieny lighting. Lighting currently comsumes about 22% of the total electricity generated in the U.S. and about 25% of the average homes electric bill.

Thanks to Tyler at Clean Break for the tip.

Brighter LED Lights Could Replace Household Light Bulbs Within Three Years

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), already used in electrical equipment such as computers and mobile phones, are several times more energy efficient than standard light-bulbs. However, because of their structure and material, much of the light in standard LEDs becomes trapped, reducing the brightness of the light and making them unsuitable as the main lighting source in the home.

Now researchers at the University of Glasgow believe that, by making microscopic holes on the surface of the LEDs, they have found a way of introducing a new generation of LEDs into households that are brighter and use even less power than standard energy efficient light-bulbs.  . . . more

LED Lights Reduce Energy Consumption 48% in Cree Headquarters

Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE), a manufacturer of LED solid-state lighting components, released the results of the first phase of the conversion of its Durham headquarters to LED lighting, which has resulted in the use of 48% less energy than the lights they replaced and plans to convert all lighting at the headquarters and manufacturing facility to LED lighting. The parking lots, entryways, lobby and conference rooms at Cree’s headquarters building are now 100-percent lit by energy-efficient, environmentally friendly XLamp(R) LEDs.That means replacing everything from high-pressure sodium parking-lot lights to the fluorescent tubes in offices and hallways to the spotlights on the flagpole out front.

“Conventional wisdom is that LED lighting is years away from widespread adoption. The truth, however, is that the performance of Cree’s LED technology enables real LED lighting solutions today,” said Chuck Swoboda, Cree chairman and CEO. “The conversion of Cree’s site demonstrates that the LED Lighting Revolution is well underway and will illustrate the benefits in energy savings, maintenance costs and environmental impacts.”

The new LED lights use 48% less energy than the incandescent, fluorescent and high-pressure sodium lights they replaced. Cree began the process in October 2007 and will continue until it replaces the tens of thousands of bulbs and tubes that light the campus, inside and out.

Cree claims that the combination of the energy savings, reduced maintenance and disposal costs and the environmental savings demonstrate that LED lighting is now a real alternative to traditional lighting solutions.

Group IV Semiconductor Accelerates Development Of Energy-Efficient Solid State Lighting

News release -- Group IV Semiconductor, Inc., a developer of energy efficient, solid-state lighting technology, on August 1 announced that it received a substantial new round of investment led by Garage Technology Ventures Canada with Applied Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Applied Materials Inc., and with existing investors including Khosla Ventures and BDC Venture Capital. These investments will further expand Group IV's aggressive program to use its revolutionary silicon-based nanofilm technology to dramatically reduce the cost of solid-state lighting and enable its widespread global adoption.

"The race is on to create energy-efficient lighting alternatives as awareness grows of the enormous waste of energy caused by conventional technologies," said Stephen Naor, CEO of Group IV. "Our vision is to create silicon-based light engines - many times more efficient than conventional bulbs and much more economical than today's LED alternatives - to provide the world with a brighter, more sustainable future. We are delighted that Garage Canada, Applied Ventures and our existing investors share this vision and recognize this unique opportunity to transform a $12 billion market."

Group IV will also collaborate with Applied Materials to develop a low cost manufacturing process that will enable Group IV to accelerate its technology towards product commercialization and production.

Group IV's solid-state light engines use a single-chip, AC-powered, silicon-based process that can deliver dramatic cost savings relative to conventional LED technologies. Since production cost is generally considered to be the last remaining hurdle for mass adoption of solid-state lighting, Group IV projects that its unique materials system will provide a crucial competitive advantage in creating high efficiency, long-life lighting products that outperform incandescent, compact fluorescent and fluorescent lighting.

CFL's Come Out on Top

Popular Mechanics has an article on Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs on their website that reaches the following conclusions based on measurements of color temperature, brightness and wattage; and observations by three members of their staff and a lighting expert:

Even though the incandescent bulb measured slightly brighter than the equivalent CFLs, our subjects didn’t see any dramatic difference in brightness. And here was the real shocker: When it came to the overall quality of the light, all the CFLs scored higher than our incandescent control bulb. In other words, the new fluorescent bulbs aren’t just better for both your wallet and the environment, they produce better light.

All CFLs used about 70 percent less electricity than incandescent bulbs. The average U.S. household has 45 light bulbs — replacing that number of 75-watt incandescent bulbs with CFLs would save $180 per year. 

In a related item lighting manufacturer TCP is increasing production of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) by 23 percent to 800,000 per day in order to meet increasing consumer demand, this capacity would probably be increased to 1 million lamps per day by the end if the year. TCP makes 70 percent of the CFLs on the market today through name brand, private label and other lighting manufacturers (OLMs), including The Home Depot. (courtesy Inside Greentech)

It was not such a shocker to me that quality of light was so good.  I have replaced about half of the lights in my home with CFL's and have seen no degradation in quality in all but one light, which was very obviously of the wrong color and have noticed a significant decrease in my electric bill.  Despite all your comments on their mercury content on my last post on the subject, my conclusion is, that the bulbs should be disposed of properly, but the mercury content of these bulbs is much less then that of other items around the home.

The quantity of bulbs being manufactured is much larger than I expected--they must have a wordwide market, but still that is a lot of bulbs.

The End of the Incandescent Light Bulb?

In yet another story on the wastes of the incandescent light bulb, The Christian Science Monitor reported:

Thanks to global warming, the ban-the-bulb movement is gaining strength. Australian officials and European lighting manufacturers have announced phase-outs of the energy-draining bulb. A California legislator has proposed a ban. Now, in a move that could speed the move away from the 128-year-old invention, some of the world's largest bulbmakers have joined environmental groups and the California Energy Commission in talks that could lead to a phase-out in the U.S. within a decade, sources say. ...

Some of the recent actions are:

• On Monday in Paris, the European Lamp Companies Federation, a trade group of lighting manufacturers in the European Union, unveiled a pact to phase out incandescent bulbs, without specifying a deadline.
• Last week, Australians officials announced a phase-out of incandescents bulbs by 2009.
• In California, state lawmaker Lloyd Levine in January introduced a bill that would ban the sale of incandescent bulbs statewide by 2012. ...

New Incandescent Light from GE

GE Announces Advancement in Incandescent Technology; New High-Efficiency Lamps Targeted for Market by 2010
GE press release, February 23, 2007

GE Consumer & Industrial’s Lighting division, ... announced advancements to the light bulb ...that potentially will elevate the energy efficiency of this 125-year-old technology to levels comparable to compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), delivering significant environmental benefits. Over the next several years, these advancements will lead to the introduction of high-efficiency incandescent lamps that provide the same high light quality, brightness and color as current incandescent lamps while saving energy and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

The new high efficiency incandescent (HEI™) lamp, which incorporates innovative new materials ... would replace traditional 40- to 100-Watt household incandescent light bulbs, the most popular lamp type used by consumers today. ... The target for these bulbs at initial production is to be nearly twice as efficient, at 30 lumens-per-Watt, as current incandescent bulbs. Ultimately the high efficiency lamp (HEI) technology is expected to be about four times as efficient as current incandescent bulbs and comparable to CFL bulbs. Adoption of new technology could lead to greenhouse gas emission reductions of up to 40 million tons of CO2 in the U.S. and up to 50 million tons in the EU if the entire installed base of traditional incandescent bulbs was replaced with HEI lamps.

Kevin Nolan, Vice President of Technology for GE Consumer & Industrial, said: "In addition to offering significant energy savings comparable to CFLs, the 21^st century version of Edison’s bulb provides all the desirable benefits including light quality and instant-on convenience as incandescent lamps currently provide at a price that will be less than CFLs." ...

Group IV Semiconductor Solid State Lighting

Group IV Semiconductor, Inc., Ottawa, CA, has announced a three-year, $9.1 million initiative aimed at developing solid state lighting products made of silicon that use 90 per cent less energy than a traditional incandescent light bulb and last up to 50 times longer.The goal of Group IV's silicon-based technology is to dramatically reduce the cost of solid-state lighting—overcoming the critical price barrier and enabling widespread adoption.

While compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) have caught on lately with their promise of energy savings, they’re still only about 20 to 25 percent efficient. Lamps that use solid-state lighting (SSL) technology, by comparison, can achieve efficiency levels as high as 80 percent.

The global lighting market is worth about $12-billion, Group IV estimates. The company says about 20 per cent of the world's electricity demand is for lighting through light bulbs.

Solar Products for Your Leisure

The Solar Shower and the Solar Grill are two items that you can use in your backyard that were featured on the American Investor Spot, a new blog.

The solar shower is meant for a quick cleanup before you go in the house. Just pop right under it and adjust the temp to your liking. Your garden hose is connected to it to provide the water, and the sun is used to warm up your water (if you want warm water). The Solar Shower can reach temperatures as high as 130F in about 1 or 2 hours in sunny weather. It can also store 5.5 gallons of water.

The Solar Grill from Tammock Trading in Switzerland can barbecue everything you barbecue on a regular grill, except instead of using charcoal, lighter fluid, propane or fire, there is a flexible mirror and the sun to cook your food. Just place your food on the grill and the mirror will focus the sun’s beams on the barbeque cup heating it up and cooking your food. No more grill brushes, coal ashes or burned eyebrows to worry about.

Wal-Mart's Bright Idea

Walmart has staarted a campaign to sell one compact flourescent light (CFL) bulb to each of it's 100 million regular customers in the U.S. They are the most prominent part of a nationwide educational program called Change a Light, Change the World. It’s a cooperative effort between Wal-Mart, SAM’S CLUB, other American businesses and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program.

Changing the five most frequently used light bulbs in your home to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) could save you $80 a year in energy costs, and help lower the air emissions from your local electric utility.

More Eficient Ground-Source Heat Pump

WaterFurnace International, Inc. (TSX: WFI) is a geothermal HVAC fabricator-installer with imagination. Their newest product has a 30 EER and 5 COP.  They have integrated natural lakes or stormwater detention or retention ponds into their designs, routing fluid exchange tubes through walkways entroute to the surface water, so averting the need to salt and sand. They are one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of geothermal and water source heat pumps.

A scenic three-acre pond located in front of their headquarters building serves as their geothermal heating and cooling source to comfort-condition their 110,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space.

Efficient Fiber-Optic Lighting Systems

An Ohio-based company, Fiberstars (Nasdaq: FBST) has developed a way to combine lightbulbs with fiber-optics to create lighting systems that consume far less energy than traditional fluorescent or incandescent bulbs. EFO’s (efficient fiber optics) unique non-imaging optics transfer light efficiently from the source to EFO Opticore® fiber. One 70 watt EFO lamp delivers the candlepower of eight 50 watt MR16 EXN Halogen lamps—replacing a total of 400 watts. Fiber optics also do not contain mercury like fluorescents. The Declaration of Independence and Magna Carta are lit by Fiberstars systems because the light source does not emit ultraviolet rays or heat.

Energy Usage Forecast

The June issue of Popular Science features an article on energy technologies that they say will cut our oil consumption in half and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels to produce electricity almost entirely by 2025.

They forecast that ultralight parts and plug-in hybrids could reduce fossil fuel consumption by 19% and that use of biofuels could reduce fossil fuel consumption by 30%.

Electricity needs could be reduced by the following technologies and conservation.

Home Electricity Conservation - 36%
Wind - 20%
Biopower - 17% (biomass gasification and methane generation)
Distributed Generation - 10%
Solar Power - 10% (PV and thermal solar power)
Geothermal Power - 5%
Ocean Power - 2% (wave power and tidal power)

While I don't think that I would have come up with the same numbers, the numbers give some idea of what mix of technologies could be used to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.  My two concerns are that, while that degree of conservation proposed is possible, electricity costs would have to be extremely high before sufficient motivation for this degree of conservation would be possible.  After reducing consumption as much as forecast by conservation the percentage of electricity produced by wind, solar, and ocean power is higher than could easily be integrated into a grid, without massive energy storage or a much stronger grid, because of the intermittency of these generation methods.  Economical energy storage on a large scale is unlikely by 2025.  Geographical separation of these methods in an area as large as the U.S. reduces the effects of intermittency, but a much stronger grid is required to transport the energy from one area to another which would mean a very costly investment in the electrical infrastructure.  The area between the great plains and the east coast is not especially suitable for these methods and the grid would have to be reinforced significantly in this area. Superconducting power transmission would be especially useful, but development of economical systems is progressing rather slowly, although some usage could be expected by 2025.

I would hope that plug-in vehicles would be in wider use by this time, but that is very dependent on the acceptance of the technology by manufacturers. Their forecast for use of biofuels, although possible someday, is very unlikely by 2025.

The articles (without statistics) can be viewed at http://www.popsci.com/popsci/energy/

Is a Zero Energy Home in Your Future

While I have noted some zero energy homes (ZEH) being built, I have not seen any projections of their market penetration or potential energy savings prior to this article.

“Zero energy homes are technically feasible today,” says the National Association of Home Builders in its study, ‘The Potential Impact of ZEH.’

“If cost trends continue and research milestones are accomplished in solar energy and efficiency technologies, ZEH will eventually become economically competitive with conventional construction when utility costs are included in the cost of home ownership,” it notes. ZEHs could be moving into the mainstream housing market as early as 2012 and could reduce energy consumption among all single-family homes by 19% by 2050, even as more than one million new homes are added each year.

As the cost of solar PV systems declines and PV production increases 30% a year, “the market penetration of these highly-efficient homes has already begun and will continue in selected markets,” the study notes. ZEH will get a further push from low-cost solar thermal water heating designs under development now, complementing the portfolio of energy-efficiency improvements in appliances, building envelopes, windows and mechanical systems that is also moving into the market.

Zero energy homes are connected to the grid, and combine energy-efficient design and technology with solar electric and thermal systems to produce as much energy as they use on an annual basis, resulting in net zero energy consumption. The first ZEH in the U.S. was built in Arizona in 2003.

Solatec Solar Panels for Hybrids

Solatec LLC(TM) announced that it is producing flexible, rooftop-mounted Solar Panels for Hybrid Vehicles, starting with a kit for the 2004-2006 Toyota Prius. A prototype (pictured) has been operating in the Northeast for several months under mixed driving conditions. With Solatec panels installed on the roof, the prototype SolaPrius(R) averages 55 MPG city and 62 MPG highway - an overall 10 percent improvement over the pre-installation numbers. All-season testing is in progress.

Solatec's photovoltaic kit adds two flexible, conformal panels that charge the hybrid automobile's auxiliary battery through a proprietary charger/current-limiter system concealed behind interior trim panels. The self-adhesive, rooftop-mounted panels are only 0.6mm thick and cause no change in aerodynamic drag. The panels are rated for 30 watts at 18 volts.

Development of the hybrid vehicle solar panels came about as a side project of Solatec LLC's solar aircraft research, which uses the same high efficiency flexible photovoltaic panels to sustain the aircraft in flight. The same aircraft grade adhesive is used on both systems.

The $2,195 kits will be available nationwide through dealer franchises. Kits for other hybrid cars are presently in development and testing.

Solatec LLC is a Nevada company engaged in alternative energy research, development and manufacturing. Solatec's main areas of research currently include solar, wind power and geothermal energy.

There have been questions as to why this hasn't been done before.  The miles that have to be driven to recover the cost of the panels, like the miles to be driven to recover the additional cost of a hybrid are likely to be to high to justify the panels on an economic basis.  If your living in the desert (lots of sun), add a few more batteries (more cost) and only have to drive a few miles, you might be able to have the convenience of not having to buy gas very often.  But then an electric vehicle would make more sense.  But there are a lot of people, like me, who would like to have the newest technology, would like the environmental benefits of burning less hydrocarbons and see this as a way of developing technologies that will be necessary as our hydrocarbon fuels become depleted and much more costly.

Resources: New Solar Panels for Hybrid Cars Improve MPG, Press Release, November 6, 2005
Solatec LLC, Wells, NV, USA, Company website

More blogs about vehicles, solar power, energy, technology

Water Heating Energy Excessive

The United States should reduce the energy it uses to heat water by 25% by 2020, mainly through the use of solar and advanced water heaters.  That is the conclusion of a report, 'A Technology Roadmap' developed by the industry and funded by the Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Program.

The country consumes 100 billion kWh of electricity each year to heat water in homes and apartments, 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 900 million gallons of oi and 500 million gallons of LPG.  “This energy comes at a significant cost,” the report notes. The average home spends US$207 per year to heat water, the third-largest household energy expense behind space heating and space cooling. Electric and gas water heaters dominate the residential market, accounting for 99% of units sold and 93% of the energy consumed by water heaters.

Water Heater Uses Microwaves, Saves Energy?

Per Article in Globe and Mall:

Pulsar Advanced Technologies, Town of Mount-Royal, Canada, has announced that it will launch its lead product, the Vulcanus MK4, a tankless water heater using microwave technology to heat water on demand. This technology with super-heating capabilities will drastically cut energy costs and totally eliminate the need to store hot water. The Vulcanus MK4 is making its world premier at Construct Canada in Toronto between Nov. 30 and Dec. 2, 2005.

The technology is designed to eliminate the deadly Legionella Pneumophila, since water will not stagnate, as it does with conventional hot water heaters. It can heat water from 35 degrees Fahrenheit to 140 degrees Fahrenheit in seconds and can source multiple applications at once: showers, dishwasher, sink usages and more. The unit is the size of a stereo speaker with a sleek modern look, making it ideal for condos and apartments, while powerful enough to serve the needs of any size family.

Courtesy of the Engineer Poet:

Microwaves are not magic.  Generating microwaves is a lossy process.  You can turn on a magnetron in a fraction of a second (if its filament is hot), but you're going to lose up to half the input power as heat in the device itself.

Point 1:  It is impossible for a microwave-based water heater to require less energy or deliver hot water faster than an on-demand resistance heater.

Point 2:  It is very unlikely that the microwave heater will have lower losses, because it will need to keep its filament powered for instant-on operation, and the heat dissipated in the magnetron (which will have to be water-cooled) will leave some unusable heat in the machine itself when the water stops flowing.  That energy is lost.

Engineer Poets comment incorporated 11/28/2005.

Resource: Pulsar announces water heater using microwaves, GLOBEANDMALL.COM, November 22, 2005

More blogs about consumer technology, conservation, energy

BigBelly Solar Trash Compactor

BigBelly (tm) is a cordless automatic solar trash compactor which reduces collection burden and litter.  The innovative BigBelly™ dramatically cuts emptying frequency and waste handling costs, trash overflow and litter at outdoor sites with high traffic and high trash volume.  This ruggedized trash container/compactor reduces trash volume by a 4:1 to 8:1 compaction ratio, depending on the nature of the trash. BigBelly has LED indicator lights that tell how full it is or optionally it transmits a wireless signal when it is within hours of being full.  A battery stores enough power to run 3 to 4 weeks with no sun and it can maintain a full charge in shaded areas. The BigBelly system has proven successful in various locations and environments from the ski slopes at Vail, to amusement parks in Orlando to the streets of New York city.  Queens, NY has purchased 50 of the compactors. According to press reports it costs about $4500. 

It is manufactured by the privately held Seahorse Power Company of Westborough, MA.  On November 14, Seahorse Power Company closed on $1.1 million in financing to expand marketing, sales and manufacturing of the BigBelly solar powered trash compactor.

Seahorse Power Company, Westborough, MA, USA

More blogs about trash, consumer technology, solar power, energy

Discovery Promises Inexpensive LED Lights

Take an LED that produces intense, blue light. Coat it with a thin layer of special microscopic beads called quantum dots. And you have what could become the successor to the venerable light bulb.  Chemists at Vanderbilt University have discovered a way to make quantum dots spontaneously produce broad-spectrum white light.  In recent years LED's have begun to appear on the market that replace conventional light bulbs, but they have been quite expensive.  They are more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs, last much longer and are very tough.  An accidental discovery could transform lighting production into a primarily chemical process with accompanying economies.  The easily produced quantum dots are mixed with a coating material, polyurethane, in the lab experiment, and coated on an inexpensive LED to make it a full spectrum light source. 

And so esoteric quantum dots could become part of a mainstream commodity.

Resource: "Quantum dots that produce white light could be the light bulb's successor", PhysOrg.com, October 20, 2005

More blogs about LEDs, quanturm dots, energy.