Using solar energy to keep homes cool

CNET has a great article today about a new solar powered A/C unit from SolCool. As they say in the CNET article this is an absolute no-brainer and I can't believe it has taken this long to reach the market.

These units need to be scaled to replace home A/C units as soon as possible. This unit could eliminate the electricity drain from air conditioning homes. It is the largest drain on our grid and this type of solution could really make a difference.

The unit even has battery backup and can run without sun from period of 12 to 24 hours depending on the battery size.

You can learn more about this at the CNET link above and the link to SolCool is: http://www.solcool.net/. They have several interesting products and ideas. Here is the link that goes directly to the two-ton Hybrid SolCool platform: http://www.solcool.net/solcool.htm

image: SolCool

"Night Wind" aims to maximize energy produced by the wind

Roland Piquepaille discusses a brilliant idea on his blog this weekend.

Basically a test is being conducted where energy that is being created by the wind will be stored in refridgerated warehouses through a method of increased cooling during the night and decreased cooling during the peak daytime hours. Esenttially allowing the extra energy to be used during peak.

The project is being reported at Nature but Roland does a much better job at describing it and uses an energy consumption chart to illustrate the idea.

It is these incremental ideas that will make the biggest difference in our energy usage and will work to cut our ongoing emissions into the atmosphere. The time has come for wind energy.