solar panels
A Solar Airport
Cochin International Airport in southern India is the seventh busiest airport in the country. Its managers were fed up with the facility’s large electric bills and decided to take matters in their own hands.
The First U.S. Solar Roadway
The first solar roadway in the US will be installed this year at the Historic Route 66 welcome center in Conway, Missouri. The installation will use hexagonal solar panels developed by Idaho-based start-up company Solar Roadways. The initial trial installation will use the panels to cover a sidewalk in the Route 66 center rest area and will only cover a few hundred square feet. The modular building blocks are hexagonal panels of a little less than 5 square feet in area that each generate 48 watts of electrical power.
The Struggle For Fuel Economy
Five years ago, the Obama Administration announced that the Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE standard for the year 2025 would be 54.5 miles-per-gallon. They estimated that improving the average fuel economy of cars and light-duty trucks to this level would save car owners $1.7 trillion at the pump and eliminate more than 6 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
Solar Rooftops Looking Better Than Ever
The price for installing solar panels continues to get lower and lower as volumes increase and technology improves. There are also more ways than ever to get solar installed with leases and other creative financial arrangements.
Solar Roadways
France’s roadways are known both for their historic cobblestone streets and infamous traffic jams. But French officials recently decided to forgo the traditional brick and pavement in order to capitalize on all the vehicle traffic.
Community Solar On The Rise
Most Americans are bullish on solar power. However, the majority of Americans are unable to install their own rooftop solar system because either they don’t own the place where they live or because their home is unsuitable for installing solar panels for one reason or another.
Solar Power As A Crop
The historic, relentless drought in California has caused a number of the state’s farmers to start planting photovoltaic panels instead of crops. Because of the drought, Federal water deliveries to farmers in the Central Valley and elsewhere have been dwindling. As a result of the water shortage, more than 500,000 acres will lie fallow this year.
Microgrids For The Powerless
There are 1.3 billion people worldwide who don’t have access to electricity. These days, some of them have acquired hundred-dollar solar panels that produce about five watts of power. That allows them to power a couple of LED lamps in the evening and to charge a mobile phone. But that’s about all they can do with so little power.
Solar Powered Water Purification
Solar energy has made a difference in the lives of refugees from natural disasters and political unrest as well as people in remote corners of the world who don’t have access to modern technology. There are various solar-powered lamps, chargers, and cookers that have been provided to countless thousands of people around the world.
New Places For Solar Power
