Chemist Daniel Nocera of MIT made news by trying to mimic photosynthesis, and improve on it. The idea seems simple: split water into hydrogen and oxygen with sunlight, and then recombine them which releases the energy in a fuel cell when the power is needed. The goal is to do both these things cheaply. Nocera has come up with a way to split water into its constituent elements that is less expensive than the technology used today.

Nocera’s idea is simple: Split water into hydrogen and oxygen with sunlight. On the other side he says a “new catalyst” for fuel cells is what’s needed, but he’s hopeful that he’ll find it. He predicts success in less than a decade.

Nocera’s paper, Chemistry of Personalized Solar Energy published in Inorganic Chemistry, describes the plan as a solution to the solar energy collection, storage and use using the hydrogen as the storage medium. The paper’s abstract says:

Personalized energy (PE) is a transformative idea that provides a new modality for the planet’s energy future. By providing solar energy to the individual, an energy supply becomes secure and available to people of both legacy and nonlegacy worlds and minimally contributes to an increase in the anthropogenic level of carbon dioxide. Because PE will be possible only if solar energy is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the key enabler for solar PE is an inexpensive storage mechanism. HY (Y = halide or OH−) splitting is a fuel-forming reaction of sufficient energy density for large-scale solar storage, but the reaction relies on chemical transformations that are not understood at the most basic science level. Critical among these are multielectron transfers that are proton-coupled and involve the activation of bonds in energy-poor substrates. The chemistry of these three italicized areas is developed, and from this platform, discovery paths leading to new hydrohalic acid- and water-splitting catalysts are delineated. The latter water-splitting catalyst captures many of the functional elements of photosynthesis. In doing so, a highly manufacturable and inexpensive method for solar PE storage has been discovered.

Nocera is claiming with the paper he has the chemistry worked out with a synthetic solar fuel process that captures many of the elements of photosynthesis outside the plant.

Central to the idea is an innovative oxygen-evolving catalyst that splits water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen that become fuel for producing electricity in a fuel cell.

Nocera points out that low-energy densities characterize most current methods of solar storage, primarily batteries. Thus using batteries presents formidable challenges for large-scale solar personalized energy implementation. Though considerable efforts are currently being devoted to battery development, most advances have little to do with the energy density, but rather they are concerned with the power density (i.e., the rate at which charge can flow in and out of the battery) and the battery life span. Energy densities of batteries are not only low (~0.1−0.5 MJ/kg), but there is little room for improvement because the electron is stored at a metal center of an inorganic network interfacing to an electrolyte.

Nocera understands the paradox of the matter, cheap energy with expensive collection and storage. Going instead to a fuel for storage offers the energy density of liquid fuels (~50 MJ/kg) that’s greater than or equal to 100 times larger than the best of the current methods of solar energy storage.

Nocera’s approach of using the solar energy to produce fuel for a fuel cell could be the key to driving down the investment cost to personalized solar energy. Nocera also sees his solar storage solution as being a great leveler between people of the developed and developing world.Nocera says in his paper, “Because energy use scales with wealth, point-of-use solar energy will put individuals, in the smallest village in the nonlegacy world and in the largest city of the legacy world, on a more level playing field.”

The idea surely has legs. Nocera has the reputation to keep going. But there are some points to keep in mind. Lead acid cells are just not that expensive at about $100 for a kilowatt-hour. A hydrogen fuel cell is going to have to be very low cost. Ultra capacitors, air batteries and other technologies would greatly simplify storage and should reduce the investment. Nocera’s system would need water, and quite interesting is Nocera’s point at 3.1.4 in the paper that Charles River water as it passes by the MIT campus works in the system with a minor 40mV offset in production.

Nocera is on to something with his chemistry. The cobalt oxygen evolving complex (Co-OEC) is the first catalyst to operate in neutral water and hence enables the inexpensive and efficient generation of hydrogen and oxygen from water. Co-OEC is unique because it (1) operates safely with high activity under benign conditions (room temperature and pH 7), (2) is comprised of inexpensive, earth-abundant materials and is easy to manufacture and engineer, (3) is self-healing, (4) is functional in natural water streams and seawater, (5) can form on diverse conducting surfaces of varying geometry and therefore can be easily interfaced with a variety of light-absorbing and charge-separating materials, and (6) may be activated by solar-derived electricity or directly by sunlight mediated by a semiconductor.

Nocera’s idea has great merit; just coming up with supplies of free hydrogen is worthwhile in itself. But a system of a water supply, a solar panel, hydrogen collection and storage, and a fuel cell plus a distribution of the electricity will come with substantial cost. Attractive as hydrogen fuel is compared to other storage methods, the focus needs to be on the production.

Hydrogen production is where Nocera’s work shines. The production is up to a point now where commercial interests might take some notice. By temporarily abandoning the poor and focusing on say the steps that upgrade the hydrogen into more useable fuels with an added carbon component such as methane or ethanol using the CO2 in the atmosphere would get production and commercial development going such that costs would go down getting the technology closer to the low income parts of the world.

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A homemade Solar Thermal Hot Water System is a device that collects solar energy and converts it into heat energy. Usually used to raise the temperature of water for sanitary use. Solar heaters are easy home construction and low maintenance. The lifespan of a solar heater can be over 20 years, virtually maintenance free.

Components of a homemade solar heater
- The collector. Allows for the solar radiation energy to pass into the water. The top of the collector is a transparent material that allows light to pass. The interior consists of pipes or conduits through which fluid flows. Thanks to the greenhouse effect the fluid passing through the collector is heated to a temperature higher than outside.
- The container or water tank. It is where the fluid is stored. Water flows again and again between the collector and the container until it reaches the desired temperature. You may have a capacity between 115 and 200 liters.
- Piping system and control.

The most important component of a homemade solar heater is the collector, which consists of:
- Metal frame.
- Transparent cover
- Thermal collector plate. The pipes that circulate the fluid.
- Heads of food and water discharge.
- Thermal insulation such as polyester, wool, fiberglass, etc..
- Safety galvanized

A solar heater home on a sunny day we can provide water at a temperature of up to 65 ° C. It is an efficient and economical system with which we can achieve significant energy savings.

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Solar water heaters, these types of water heaters are based on the power of the sun to heat water.

How efficient are they? That depends on the amount of sunlight they receive. The more sunlight the better and more intense use at home.

First the water passes through a kind of pre-heating process to room temperature before the action of the sun. They are a good source of hot water, but in days with no sun you may need to have a conventional water heater as a backup.

Solar water heaters can also be used to heat your pool water and can therefore be very efficient, but again rely on sunlight to provide a high enough temperature for water.

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Articles about renewable energies like solar energy or wind energy from this week.

Customers Talk About Solarcentury Tiles

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Solar Energy Panels in the UK

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Solar. Panels For Cold Weather

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Coca Cola Funds Schools With Solar Energy

Coca-Cola Foundation gave the facilities of the Intercultural Bilingual Primary “Tepeyolotzin”

The IPN And Infonavit Bet By Efficient Houses

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Mexico City Supports Viable Houses

The Government of Mexico City bets to the construction of social and viable houses in the City

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The Government of Mexico City bets to the construction of social and viable houses in the City, and in order to do so, they analyze if it is possible to grant a series of incentives for the industrialists who will built it.

These stimuli go from administrative and fiscal incentives to allowing the construction of more squared meters, as well as increase in the number of houses for the real estate ones that incorporate technologies that allow the saving of resources.

All these incentives and their rules will be based in the Norm of Viable House, that the Secretariat of Urban Development and House, (SEDUVI) tries to finish in six weeks, at least, to send it to the Legislative Assembly, where it will be discussed.

The holder of SEDUVI, Arturo Aispuro, indicated that there will be three packages of incentives: for who makes house viable, to that incorporates viability technology, and that develops to spaces public next to its constructions.

“The third incentive will be for those who incorporate to his projects the creation of spaces public or houses; and all this will allow it to be better constructed without increasing the cost of the social house”, explained the Secretary.

During the Second Latin American Forum of House, the director of Urban Development of the SEDUVI, Felipe de Jesus González, presented this Wednesday the project of norm and its incentives.

In his presentation he indicated that the viability principles by which incentives will occur to the new developments will be: the water saving and energy, the one that destines clear areas, that it is constructed in mixed ground uses and parking is generated.

“From the incorporation of all these element, there will be a series of prizes to allow balance in the investment, generating urbanity for the surroundings”, he said.

In the Latin American Forum, the director of INFONAVIT, Victor Manuel Borrás, indicated that along with the GDF already he works in a pilot program of ecological house, where he tries himself to grant 15 thousand pesos of credit for each worker.

The Federal civil servant indicated that with the agreement, signed with the GDF, for the credit granting for the inhabitants of the capital, 55 billions of pesos must be available to grant 250 thousand credits for next the five years.

Martha Robles, technical secretary of the National Commission of Housing (CONAVI), indicated that for the next year it is predicted to give financing for 140 thousand houses in the Federal District.

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The National Polytechnical Institute (IPN) and the Institute of the National Found for the House of the Working force (INFONAVIT) signed an agreement of academic collaboration, with the purpose of creating energetically efficient houses.

The agreement establishes the cooperation mechanisms so that investigators, educational and polytechnical students, participate in the creation of innovating houses that integrate technologies that foment protection for the atmosphere, they save energy and they include services of telecommunications as broadband and Internet.

Thus the polytechnical one in an official notice informed where it adds that both institutions will unite efforts in order to develop joint projects in matter of investigation, qualification and consultant’s office.

The agreement was subscribed by the leader of the polytechnical, Enrique Villa Lago, and the holder of INFONAVIT, Victor Manuel Setién Flocks.

Villa Lago emphasized that as a result of the entailment of this house of studies with other instances, already he has advanced concerning a special program of the Presidency of the Republic for the house questions, in order that the IPN constitutes in organization certified in the type of houses that can be developed in Mexico, concerning aspects of technology, construction equipments and everything what has to do with the efficient use of energy.

“He is something very important in which he can be the habitat of the future, as the design of houses viable echo-energetics as it is happening already in other countries developed”, limited.

Villa emphasized that at the moment it is fundamental that the new houses make use of technologies alternating energetics like the energy to pave, since given the characteristics of Mexico, efficient zones of insolation exist to generate energy that allows to warm up the water of the houses, at the same time to avoid damages to the atmosphere.

Victor Manuel Setién Flocks, on the other hand, mentioned that the dependency to its position has considered the challenge to be a profitable and efficient institution, in terms of international standards, but at the same time to conserve his social sense.

It explained that at the moment registry has of 14 million of workers active that maintains his savings of subaccount of house administered by INFONAVIT and that asks yields adapted for that resources, so that their savings are conserved through time for when they wish to buy his house or at the time of the retirement, like a fundamental patrimonial activity for them.

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Coca-Cola Foundation gave the facilities of the Intercultural Bilingual Primary “Tepeyolotzin” the first school in Tlaxcala equipped with technology for harnessing solar energy in the community of Guadalupe Tlachco, in the Municipality of Santa Cruz.

“We express the continued commitment of Coca-Cola to promote sustainable development in Mexico to support quality education for children in our country so that they grow, become better prepared and can meet the challenges of their communities by having the necessary for their education. To date, the Foundation has built 45 schools in 21 states, works to benefit more than 250,000 people and their communities, “said Vivian Alegria, director of Coca-Cola Foundation.

The school, which will benefit 80 children Nahua and Totonac has 6 lecture halls, computer center, library and space for sports activities. These actions reaffirm our commitment to the Company for formal job creation, development and implementation of social programs, promoting projects aimed at protecting the environment and the promotion of quality education.

Attending the inauguration Shopping Prof. Salvador Lima, Director General of Basic Education in the State, representing Héctor I. Ortiz Ortiz, Governor of Tlaxcala and Professor Emilio Rodriguez Flores, Head of the Department of Indigenous Education of the State.

Since his arrival in Mexico 82 years ago, Coca-Cola has sought to benefit and refresh everyone with whom the Company relates. During this time, has demonstrated its continued commitment to the country’s sustainable development through the implementation of hundreds of projects focused on economic development, labor, community and environment.

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Contrary to popular belief, you don´t need to live in a hot climate place to have the benefits of clean energy like solar energy. In fact, solar panels convert sunlight into electricity more efficiently in cold temperatures.

This is because the colder the material, the better it conducts electricity. Therefore, the solar panels produce less electricity in hot weather than in cold weather to have the same sunlight available.

It is true that cold climates tend to have less sunlight than hot climates, but this loss of sunlight is compensated with the solar panel will be more efficient.

A good example of this principle in action is the photovoltaic solar plant in Colorado. It is home to one of the solar photovoltaic power plants bigger U.S.

As you can see in the picture below, the place is far from being warm and with lots of sunlight, but the plant is capable of producing 8.2 megawatts of clean energy, enough to supply electricity to 1,500 homes for one year.

Colorado is not the only place where they are using solar energy. Countries like Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia make extensive use of solar energy. In fact, in Copenhagen there are only all solar-powered parking meters.

So if you had any doubt by installing solar panels in a cold area, think no more, they will surely serve you well.

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Arrange few bits and pieces from the next door hardware stores and set up solar boiler system in your house. It has become very common practice today. Global warming and soaring fuel prices have worked like catalyst in the promotion of usages of solar energy and its consequences can be experienced with the entry of company like rinnai.co.nz into the market with solar energy based product like solar water heater. The most amusing fact is huge positive response to solar energy based products. Certainly, it has defined the line for all new ranges of future products.

Now, let’s check out characteristics of solar water heater and try to explore the factors behind huge public response:

• Solar water heater substantially reduced electricity bill. For the sake of assistance, you can download blueprints as well.

• If you are not using electric hot water system then real time solar heater is right option for you. Moreover, it does not require any water storage system. It heats water on the fly.

• If your choice is simple portable water heater only for showers or washing up whenever you are camping then set up simple solar panel and a container to hold water. It takes approximately 20minutes to heat shower water.

• In market, two types of solar hot water systems are available: “active and passive”.

• Basic difference between active and passive systems is usages of accessories like pumps and controls which are essential only in active system.

• Good quality insulation of the storage tank contains heated water for longer duration.

• Quality of passive solar heater prominently depends upon the water temperature. In passive system, cold water sinks to the bottom & hot water rises on the top of the tank. Hence, water temperature is very crucial element of passive system.

Eventually, everyone can conclude that solar water heater has proved a better choice in terms of good return in quick succession. Though, it is true that initial investment may be little more than the normal readily available conventional alternatives. But, attractive return is guaranteed.

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For each 20 kilowatts/hour of electricity from solar energy they stop emitting about 10 kilos of CO2 per the year, that is, 250 kilos of carbon dioxide would be avoided in 25 years, according to the data of Greenpeace. That would reduce air pollution and greenhouse effect brought by the CO2 emissions. Besides environmental benefits, renewable energies offer interesting economic advantages for the countryside, that have seen in this sector an opportunity to fight against the depopulation. They generate more job than other polluting sources and allow the creation of small companies, which power the economic development of the more underprivileged rural towns.

Ecologists say that photovoltaic is the most marginalized of the power sources. It is not strange to find immense solar orchards in great surfaces. From the diverse administrations he tries himself to take advantage of the pull renewable to the benefit of the countryside and the sustainable development.

Promotion and mediation

In Avila, for example, the Delegation promotes photovoltaic solar energy in the 248 localities of this province. They put in contact companies of renewable energies with Avila towns so that solar orchards in their municipalities can be installed. According to what they explain, sources of the provincial institution, this initiative must “to the high” number of consultations that realize the companies of the sector in the Agency of the Energy on the existence of parcels in which he is viable to install connected solar panels to the network.

The Agency from the province, Delegation of Avila, makes promotion and put-in-contact work, it has begun with the launching of surveys for the city councils to know the characteristics of the parcels that could be destined to this aim. Once selected, they are going to be promoted so that the interested companies in installing photovoltaic solar energy in the province of Avila can know them.

Some Avila localities already have found in renewable energies an alternative to maintain and to attract population. “Otherwise, the municipality would disappear in the mid term”, says to Fernando Martin, mayor of Gotarrendura, a town of 200 inhabitants of the Region of La Moraña.

In addition, against which it happens in the cities, countryside offer great free surfaces. The City council of Gotarrendura counts, for example, with public parcels for the implantation of solar panels. In his municipal term, already one put into operation a solar orchard of 1.4 MW and one extension of 5.6 hectares, that electrical energy produces. In December, it will finalize the installation of another orchard of 2 MW and 7 hectares. Thanks to these projects, four watchman job have been created on solar panels in the municipality and other three of installers of photovoltaic panels. In addition, the City council of Gotarrendura studies the execution of a mixed plant of photovoltaic energy and thermoelectric and the implantation of other three solar orchards is being transacted.

A profitable business

Although the expensiveness in their installation, solar orchards are profitable in mid term. “The proprietor amortizes plates in ten years selling energy to Iberdrola”, emphasizes the mayor of Gotarrendura, Fernando Martin, who explains that the fixed sale price is of a 25% on the average tariff of reference.

Considering the yield of this type of projects, the Town hall of this small town of the north of the province of Avila promotes a new work that will facilitate the creation of a job spot. “The idea came to us to instal photovoltaic panels i the new shelter that is being constructed. This panels will generate profits of 3,000 euros more or less and a job for its maintenance will be created”, explains Martin.

Fruit of this pro-renewable energies work, the City council has been chosen as a finalist, along with other four towns, for the regional prize of Environment Clear Sources for the sustainability of small municipalities. The award of 3,000 Euros, organized by the City council of San Miguel del arroyo (Valladolid) and the Council of Environment, went finally to Torrearévalo (Soria).

24 community projects participated in the IV Clear Sources Forum for the sustainability in small municipalities. With this initiative, the Board tries at least to compile concrete and real experiences developed in towns of 1,000 inhabitants of the region as a sample book of what is done in this area in matter of environment.

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