New Energy Technologies - Electricity With Every Window

New energy technologies want to make electricity with every window

New Energy Technologies want to make electricity with every window: American company, new energy technologies is developing electricity generating transparent windows and products for america’s 85 million detached homes and commercial buildings. Their mission has been to create solar windows which produce impressive amounts of clean electricity, that benefit the environment and the building landscape. The team developed a coating capable of generating electricity on glass and flexible plastics that is processed uniformly in different color tints. these polymer organic photovoltaic arrays are clear and only capture UV rays which can be scaled up and have unparalleled manufacturablilty. 

Researchers view through electricity generating ‘solarwindow’

Unlike traditional building applied photovoltaic systems, restricted to use in direct sunlight on very limited skyscraper rooftop space, their ‘solarwindow’ is designed to operate in sunlight, shaded conditions and artificial light on the many thousands of square feet of glass surfaces common to today’s high rise towers. the technology is the subject of forty two patent filings, and researchers are on the track to advance the project towards full scale production. 

They are being developed in architecturally-neutral colors

They can tint in custom colors

The clear film only captures UV light

Testing the film using artificial light

Can be applied on traditional skyscraper windows

The president is pushing a clean energy loan guarantee program, which helped electric car success story Tesla, but also failed solar company, Solyndra. President Obama just announced a series of initiatives to encourage solar and other green technologies, as he tries to spur development of cleaner power sources.

The push will involve more than $1 billion in government funds to back new clean energy and energy efficiency projects along with funding research and development of new energy technologies. While the individual actions are small, Obama’s overarching plan and public pitch shows his growing attention to both clean energy, as well as initiatives to fight climate change. In his final term in office, Obama is now focused on a legacy committed to climate change, and recently finalized a highly controversial plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power industry.

Obama formally unveiled the plan Monday afternoon in Las Vegas at a clean energy-focused conference sponsored by U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). The White House released details about the address earlier in the day.

The Energy Department will oversee many of the new initiatives including another $1 billion for its loan program that has previously been both lauded and vilified. The agency previously gave loans to electric car company Tesla and the large solar farm Ivanpah, but also to failed solar panel maker Solyndra, which created a political firestorm with Republicans who criticized the administration for wasting taxpayer money on a flimsy business.

The loan program has made $30 billion in total commitments over the years to get new nuclear, solar and wind projects built, or new green technologies from big companies like Nissan or smaller companies like Tesla. Many of the very large solar panel projects built in the deserts of California and Nevada made use of these loans.

At the same time, the Energy Department clarified that the loan program can now be used to fund “distributed energy” projects, which are decentralized technologies like roof top solar panels, batteries in buildings or connected to the power grid, or adding computing intelligence to the grid. Much of the clean energy projects that have historically used the loans have been large “centralized” energy projects, which involve a utility buying and distributing the energy to its customers.

Nearly Fried FiSH For Dinner - Window Washers Lucky

Two window washers became trapped roughly four stories above downtown Traverse City on Thursday afternoon when their basket crane struck and downed a Consumers Energy power line. Click to enlarge.

Life and death drama in air over Traverse City - A harrowing incident in downtown Traverse City concluded with happiness and relief when two window washers climbed off a fire engine ladder unscathed, roughly an hour after their basket crane struck a 46,000-volt power line and left the men suspended roughly four stories above the ground.

Traverse City Fire Department Chief Jim Tuller said the men seemed to be in “good spirits and in good health” as emergency medical personnel examined them in an ambulance. ”We brought them down without incident,” Tuller said. The Fish Window Cleaning employees became trapped in their crane outside River’s Edge condominiums near Lake Avenue and Cass Street at about 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Exactly how the crane struck and downed a Consumers Energy power line remains unclear.

The collision sent electricity surging through the piece of heavy equipment, eventually lighting the crane’s tires on fire. It also knocked out power for about 3,400 Consumers Energy customers in the area of Old Mission Peninsula, Consumers Energy spokesman Roger Morgenstern said. City firefighters arrived on scene to extinguish the blazing tires. They and other emergency personnel then roped off a parking lot behind the condominiums and the Hagerty Center with caution tape to keep spectators away from the crane and the downed line.

Two stranded window washers prepare to move from their disabled basket crane to a fire engine ladder in downtown Traverse City on Thursday morning. Click to enlarge.

A Consumers Energy employee was hoisted to the height of the window washers in a separate crane at about 11:30 a.m. He then served as a spotter while a firefighter rode an engine ladder to the same height and helped the trapped men out of the basket crane and onto the ladder, Tuller said. Tuller said his department’s firefighters undergo extensive electrical emergency training sessions. “They involve a lot of videos just like this, but they almost all end badly,” Tuller said.

The window washers did not speak with members of the media following the rescue. Jeff Trick, a Fish Window Cleaning sales employee who watched the rescue take place, declined to identify the window washers by name, but he said they were lucky to be alive. “Thank god they’re alive. That’s all I have to say,” Trick said. Bree Sanford, a Fish Window Cleaning general manager, did not return a call for additional comment.

Nearly fried Fish for dinner.

Consumers Energy crews restored power to their customers on the peninsula at about 12:30 p.m. Roughly 650 Traverse City Light & Power customers south of downtown near the Hagerty Center also lost power from about 10:30 a.m. until noon, said Tim Arends, TCL&P executive director. TCL&P crews discontinued power to a circuit in the area because the downed line caused a surge in a nearby TCL&P street lamp, and for the safety of rescue crews and the trapped window washers. TCL&P also experienced power problems near the intersection of Garfield Avenue and Boon Street, Arends said. Crews continue to work on those problems Thursday afternoon. It was not clear if they were related to the power line downed by the window washers.

Window washing truck gets stuck in power lines, disrupts power for thousands -  Thousands lost power late this morning after a bucket truck that was washing windows got stuck in a 96,000 volt power line. Consumers Energy said it is their understanding that no one was hurt. Nearly 3,400 Consumers customers are without power, but officials estimate power will be back within the hour.  In addition, 636 Traverse City Light and Power customers lost power but all have since been restored. Most of the customers affected by the outage were located on Old Mission Peninsula and near downtown Traverse City.

UPDATE: Power Restored to Grand Traverse County Residents -  The two window washers who were stuck in the bucket truck are now safe on the ground. Neither of them were inured. Thousands are without power in Grand Traverse County after a window washer accidentally clipped a power line. Two window washers were still stuck in a bucket truck. They got caught up in the power line after the bucket truck tires caught fire, and the power line came down across several vehicles. The line was clipped near Hagerty Insurance in Traverse City. Nobody was hurt.