Seems maybe a bit redundant, but this company will use solar energy to power their algae biodiesel plant. Good stuff.

Sunrise Solar Announces Initial Project Funding

SAN ANTONIO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sunrise Solar Corp. (OTCBB:SSLR - News) announced today that initial funds for the implementation of the Company’s previously announced project to deliver solar power and heat to a U.S. BioDiesel manufacturing plant have been placed into escrow. In October 2008, Sunrise Solar announced an agreement with a Brazil-based BioDiesel producer to provide solar technology to its manufacturing facilities, which produce BioDiesel from algae.

Sunrise Solar sees the opportunity to use green energy to make BioFuels as a major step toward complete energy independence,” noted Eddie Austin, Chairman and CEO of Sunrise Solar Corp. “In the past, many BioFuels companies consumed large amounts of fossil fuels in the manufacturing process.”

“By using solar power to manufacture biodiesel, a truly green fuel will be available for transportation,” concluded Austin.

The U.S. has trailed both Europe and Asia in solar technology development. Last year’s soaring fuel prices woke Americans to the need to compete with China and Korea for the development of solar technology. As it grows, SSLR will compete with more established companies such as First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR - News), Kyocera (NYSE: KYO - News), Sanyo (OTC: SANYY - News).

Natescape,

I would respectfully beg to differ.  They are not very specific about what they are doing that is solar, so it may be useful.  But the usual approach is solar PV.  PV is workable, but in home applications cost 3 times as much as the grid.  Since they may be able to schedule plant operations for prime electricity producing hours, they may be able to reduce the premium to 2X.  Even then, they would be increasing their electricity by double.

While saying they are using solar is trendy, it will increase costs.

liberty1:

  PV is workable,  

  To my understanding, there has never been a solar PV panel that has produced more energy than it took to make the panel. Which is a perfect fit for a technology that has, to my understanding, never shown the ability to produce even 1 ounce of energy more than input energy. In essence, turning gold into lead.

Ive notice that there are companies springing up like tulips lately that just string green sounding technologies together and offer no thought to the details.

Froggy, do you have anything to back that up?

froggy:

To my understanding, there has never been a solar PV panel that has produced more energy than it took to make the panel.

natescape:

Froggy, do you have anything to back that up?

froggy:

To my understanding, there has never been a solar PV panel that has produced more energy than it took to make the panel.

Here is a study from good 'ol UWMadison. While it seems that my understanding might be off, as I read this study, Im not noticing where Dr Knapp gets his actual e' production numbers from. It seems he is extrapolating theoretical data, likely given to him by the Siemens shill. Dust, breakage, weathering... all of these items lower the real world efficiency and would likely increase significantly the real world payback.

The same thing can be done with ethanol. Theoretically, its a winner from corn. Once someone does all the math and science and economics on it, its not so hot from corn afterall.

Oops, I just realized that Dr Knapp is apart of 'Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc'. Hmmmm...  I think this is a link to the company. I notice Dr Knapp is not involved with them anymore.  Siemens certainly has an agenda and I dont trust them 1 lick. This company seems to be a clearing house of number crunching and offer a bit more credibility.

Thus, I would say that PV has an energy payback of somewhere between 2-3 years and never.

By the way... think about this from a net neutral economic point of view. If it takes 2-3 years for the PV to just pay back the cost of energy it took to create the thing and that value doesnt account for payment of cost of production like building buildings, paying for people to mine the products and manufacture the products, the machines to build them, the middle man to sell them, the person putting up the PV and the person washing the dust off....  this 2-3 years of payback is only for the energy which is likely a small % of the overall cost of production and implementation. If you look at this from a economics point of view, this report is a horrible show.

Froggy and Nate a couple of comments. The report by Knapp was sponsored by Siemens so that implies a bias. I have done a lot of searching and informal research of energy payback and ROI of solar. To say the least it is hard to get a handle on because most of the studies have a pro-renewable energy bias slant to it. Further it depends on which solar PV technology you are talking about.

For example 80% of the market is now the older monocrystaline technology. It is very clear that these panels are not likely to ever produce more energy than it takes to manufacture when you take all the energy inputs from cradle to grave. One of the newer poly crystalline modules claim 5 to 7 years, and the thin films and polymers claim 3 to 5. But there are a couple of problems. 1. these technologies have no history and as of yet no one knows how long their life span is. 2. When the energy payback is quoted for these new technologies not all energy inputs are taken into account like the frames and glazing material. Aluminum and glass take a lot of energy to make.

The polymer technology we sometimes call it vaporware, because for about 30 years the industry has heard of this new product; basically nano particle structures printed on plastic sheets, has not hit the market. The reason is because the very sunlight it uses destroys the product in a year or two. Good example I am sure some of you maybe familiar with is Nanosolar. You here lots of PR, but today not one verifiable product produced, only prototypes for testing and making claims.

As for ROI, that is a bit easier to get a handle on. It depends strictly on where you live. If you live in certain parts of California, Arizona, and other states where your neighbors pick up half of your cost, have excellent solar insolation, extremely high electric rates, and mandated net metering you can get an ROI of 7 to 12 years sort of. But you loose half of your initial investment the day you pay for it because the value of your property only increases about half of what you invested. So if you put $30K into a solar PV system your property value only increases $15K. So if you are a short term home owner that is something to consider.

Now if you are in a state where you only get a federal tax credit the ROI can be 30 to 100 years again depending on your utility rate and solar insolation. The nasty catch here is in a 30 to 100 year time span every component will have had to been replaced at some point. Here in TX where we have good solar Insolation, solar PV industry is almost non existent because only one city Austin has net metering mandate. Without net metering there is no point, you can’t do grid tied solar PV..

As for stand alone battery systems. There is no energy payback or ROI because batteries have to be replaced every 3 to 5 years and that represents ½ of the system cost and energy input.

Sad fact is Solar and Wind can never be anything more than a supplemental energy source. For every watt of Solar and Wind you put on line, it has to be backed up with conventional sources like nuke, coal, NG, or hydro standing by waiting to go online instantly with out a single second of delay. Otherwise you get wide scale blackouts as has happened very recently.

excellent points Dereckbc, though I would disagree on the wind portion. I think wind power will provide much needed electrical energy. One thing i dont understand in people's calculations is this, they claim there is less of a demand for energy during the day when people are at work, doesnt the fact that the buildings they work in require heating/cooling/lighting/other power needs count?

sure i understand a little about peak hours and such, but its my understanding that every little bit helps. Texas leads the nation and possibly large parts of the world in wind, biofuels and so many other alternative energies. with everyone looking for the silver bullet, they forget that there is no silver bullet, every available technology is what it will take to power this country, whether doing it with foriegn resources or our own is the agenda.

more wind farms and expanding existing wind farms is a daily fact of life in Texas. down here in corpus christi, you can watch, daily, how the parts are shipped in, shipped out, and you know they are not shipping them out to existing farms to sit on the ground doing nothing, they are going into production.

solar may never be ROI effective, I cant see the future, but i do believe wind is cost effective and the megawatts produced by the numerous farms here in Texas, at some point, will be energy +, and profitable for those that have invested in building them.

dereckbc:

  Sad fact is Solar and Wind can never be anything more than a supplemental energy source. For every watt of Solar and Wind you put on line, it has to be backed up with conventional sources like nuke, coal, NG, or hydro standing by waiting to go online instantly with out a single second of delay. Otherwise you get wide scale blackouts as has happened very recently. 

  Whilst my gun toten friend makes sobering fact of life insights and should be taken seriously, I think I will disagree that the past equates to the future. Supercaps are here and a growing technology that has a huge lifespan and efficiency. Super grid also on its way in too with large scale e' storage is solvable and in the works already. I also think the US is going to ramp up new nukes under Obama, which is a good thing. If an asteriod hits the planet, the algal economy takes a big dumper and we are going to thank the flying spaghetti monster that someone was smart enough to get energy not only from the sun.

As for solar panels, they will also get better. I have great confidence in material science and its quest for ever better material. Better material got us into and out of the stone age, bronze age, steel age, industrial revolution and is now powering up the Carbon age. In 100 years, we all will be ave 100Kw for every second we exist and will laugh at the measly .001kw someodd (actually I dont know but I know its way small) we use now as quaint heathens. Do you have any idea how many MJ's its gonna take to make my Earl Grey tea from atomic particles???

E=mc2 is only ~ 100 yrs old. Why bring this up? Because our friend Al shows us that a few grams of you belly button lint has enough energy in it to power your whole life and 100's of 1000's of your neighbors whole lives too. So we dont have an energy crisis, we have a belly button lint to energy conversion crisis. The sun pounds the earth with ~ 13000x current energy usage and that is what gets thru the ATM only. We dont have an energy crisis, we have a sunscreen to energy conversion crisis. The oceans have 1000's of years of fissionable material just floating around in it slowly giving all life cancer. We dont have an energy crisis, we have a radioactive pollutant that needs to be purified from where the whales breed that also has the added benefit of desal drinking water and CO2 neutral energy production. IMO, we dont have an energy crisis but a lack of understanding the issues and how to reasonable solve them. Whilst belly button lint isnt maybe the most reasonable, there are ones that are. 

Good stuff on solar power, gentlemen. I'd also add that the equasion changes depending on how much actual solar resources you get in your area. New England is probably mediocre for solar energy, with the cloudy Pacific Northwest terrible and the Southwest or Florida having a much faster ROI and EROEI.

ccheek:

excellent points Dereckbc, though I would disagree on the wind portion. I think wind power will provide much needed electrical energy. One thing i dont understand in people's calculations is this, they claim there is less of a demand for energy during the day when people are at work, doesnt the fact that the buildings they work in require heating/cooling/lighting/other power needs count?

Look at DOE load demands and you will see the problem peak load begins around 5 pm when we get off work and go home and last till 9 or 10 at night when we go to bed.

Problems with wind are many. Peak wind time is in the winter when demand is much lower and not needed. Also wind is strongest in the morning when the capacity is not needed, and least in afternoon and evening when demand is highest.

Electric utility providers have a little problem, they have to sell electricity when it is needed, and it has to be 100% reliable or close to it. Wind and Sun cannot be relied upon. It is like owning a bycle to commute to work on warm sunny days. You still have to own a car because you have to go to work.

Like I said for every watt of wind and solar power you must build a conventional power source to replace it. Adding carbon tax or cap and trade to promote alternative energy sources only drives prices up and does nothing to solve the problem that cannot be fixed. We have all our energy needs right here in the USA domesticalyy produced right now to last us several hundred years, we just refuse to use it from politics and ingorance called nuclear.

natescape:

Good stuff on solar power, gentlemen. I'd also add that the equasion changes depending on how much actual solar resources you get in your area. New England is probably mediocre for solar energy, with the cloudy Pacific Northwest terrible and the Southwest or Florida having a much faster ROI and EROEI.

Nate over all southern California, Hawaiii  and Arizona have the best solar insolation numbers. Unlike Florida they don't have clouds and rain to deal with. There are some exceptions like Miami and Denver. GO HERE and HERE to see the numbers and pay attention to winter months vs summer.

this company is commercializing it's Synthetic photosynthesis tech and has potential, especially in the initial applications they are using it for like steel sheeting and other building materials.  www.dyesol.com

this is not to say we don't need algae or any other source of renewable fuel we can come up with

 

froggy:

Whilst my gun toten friend makes sobering fact of life insights and should be taken seriously.

Froggy friend you promised me you would never tell anyone I let you frisk me down

History does have of way of repeating itself, and man seems to always fail to learn from it. I do think there is some future for solar and wind, I just do not think it will ever be a solid base for the reasons I already stated. But I have no problem and respect your POV.

There is no doubt in electrical engineers, physicist, and other like minded professional; electricity can provide for all our light transportation needs right now here today. We already have the technology to do it. There are only two things holding it back, one political, and one technical.

The political problem can be solved tomorrow by the Fed changing nuclear policy. The spent fuel rod problem I am now convinced is a myth and only a political problem. Recycle and reclaim the fuel. France does not have a problem, no reason we should.

The technical problem is minor, and that is with batteries. Right now the technology is there to make a battery to give us 200 to 300 mile vehicles with all the bells and whistles. Problem is battery life and they will need replaced every 3 to 5 years. Now with that said I know the prototypes are already being tested that will solve most of the battery problem, The solution is no more than 2 to 5 years out, just in time to get nuke plants online and recharging tose EV batteries dirt cheap and keep this country in front of everyone.

As for heavy transportation and aviation, I don’t see any other fuel options in the foreseeable future other than fossil based like oil and coal. Trains you can make electric, but trucks, ships, and aircraft I just do not see it any other way for now or future. Neither does the military or government, DOD is building two CTL plants now using nuke as the heat source. BD I see the same as wind and solar, it can supplement, but never replace.

But heck when you figure out how to fission or fussion belly lint. let me know, we will both get rich and own the world. Which half do you want, north or south?

 

when discussing solar its essential to look at all the solar options, process heat being the most important of them all.  there are high efficiency solar heating systems that perform incredibly well

vacuum tube solar technology is especially efficient, also, focused  parabolic lens systems with tracking can run generators and those are in use in many places already

. its possible that they were referring to  solar process heat rather than Photovoltaic which is sexy and in common use in more places than one realises, particularly on the us highway systems where there are  solar photovoltaic panels by the mile. and more and more pv,s  can be seen installed in office buildings and homes., the more demand there is the cheaper they will become thin film  technology is being worked on that will revolutionise the state of the art.

solar  collectiion technology will soon emerge using nanno technology that will make structural elements for buildings that are PV and heat  sources combined.

 there are phase change materials that can provide long term heat storage capabilities that will revolutionise the housing industry.

  as former director of solar energy research projects for a fortune 500 company I  have been privy to on going state of the art improvements that will emerge as demand for alternative sources of energy  escalates.

evry thing is always more expensive when it first emerges into the market place the more a technology is used the cheaper it will become

 there is actually a paint that is being developed that has embedded nanno tech elements that will generate power.

 we have developed  a hybrid solar power generator called the" liberator" it is extremely compact and inexpensive it.can power a house providing 10K of power.

 invertors can be stacked to provide 110, 220, 440  power if one wishes.

 solar is still an emerging technology but every day ,more  and more solar is being used. both in the active and passive mode.

 I have planned a totally sustainable multiple unit planned unit developmenmt called "Corner of the earth" for a south facing slope of land  here at ecogenics research center

this twelve unit complex will include gasification, solar, methane, radiant heating, etc etc. in order to sustain itself "off the grid."   there will be no roads to get to the units instead a" people move" will be used roads are the most destructive  elements  in a development particularly on steep hills as  the one this property is situated on .this will act as a proof of concept prototype for a larger  sustainable housing project.

having been a land developer and builder in  the past I see this as an opportunity to fold in alternative energy technologies into an off the grid sustainable housing development

once  completed we will ceremoniously have the  power lines from the power company removed. from our property. and they will be able to take thier power poles and stick them where the sun dont shine..

marc

 

 

 

 

 

            Does your area have good wind or solar?I'm interested in off the grid living,is your research center OTG?

we get a fair amount of solar insolation not perfect but good enough for pv and solar heat applications. and since we are on a 90 ft. bluff over looking a river and a narrow valley the winds could be harnessed in fact since our dtstillation columns tower  60  ft aboveground level  (add that to the hieght of the bluff and were pretty high up).mounting a  small  500 watt windmill on top of the supporting framework of the tower would be a good idea and i might add one on to top off the list of alternative energy options we have in place already. we do have groups here  in the spring and summer you can see pix of some of the groups on the media section. and on our website we have pix of some of our seminar atendees who come from all over the world..

alg1:

            Does your area have good wind or solar?I'm interested in off the grid living,is your research center OTG?

I have designed/build quite a bit of off grid battery  and grid tied solar. Location is everything. Currently working on a Walmart 500 KW grid tied system.

Take this piece of advice. Before you even consider solar PV, the best money you can spend is completely upgrading your home first. For every $1 you spend upgrading your home will save you $4 on the solar install. By upgrade I mean everything from adding insulation, replacing all windows and doors, adding sun-tubes and skylites, replacing all appliances, lighting, and mechanical systems. If you have electric heat or hot water convert to NG or LP. Or IMO sel that house, and build from the ground up to get it right.

Now with that said and I tell you the truth, if you go off-grid keep this in mind, you are not cutting greenhouse gasses (you are adding more vs utility power) nor will you ever get an ROI. Simply not possible with a off-grid system because of the batteries. You can cut emmisions via grid tied and ROI depending on your location. My advice the only folks who should ever consider off-grid is only if there is no grid connection available at any reasonable cost.

well heres the thing..

 the ecoshelter  which serves as my living room and where we hold our seminars is a 1000sq.ft. structure with  R47 walls and roof with radiant  floor heating contained within a  6 inch concrete slab. laterally isolated from the outside and from the earth below  with  cellular insulation , preventing  heat loss and creating a large thermal mass 

.in addition,  the ecoshelter contains a fireplace with a heat exchanger to heat  rainwater  which is collected in a set of large tanks including the  tank at the base of the central column which supports the roof and also contains the fireplace..

 the south facing wall is a passive solar collector. with a water to air heat exchange and circulation system 

the  structure has conventional power but in addition, the house is is wired like an automobile  or RV.with a twelve volt systems

 hot water is provided by the fireplace and  storage tanks are insulated  to contain the hot water.  the refrigerator is a RV. fridge there are two 5000watt  stacked invertors set up to run the well pump and an additional set of invertors to run computers and telivision -stereos . there is a bank of deep cycle marine batteries with isolators to control discharge this is run by one of our liberators which is a hybrid power supply using a PV panel and a multifuelled briggs and stratton ten hp motor driving an 100 charging amp automotive alternator to charge a bank of twelve volt deep cycle batteries. which power twelve volt lighting, pumps heaters and gas appliances with gas provided from methane gas from a methane digestor. which is part of liquid waste processing system,

 a standby gasifier  also part of  the waste processing system and is,capable of running from  a broad range of feedstocks  it  can provide additional heat for bathing and cooking. as well as producer gas to run another generator pack which in that case will be a water cooled automotive motor so we dan harvest more waste heat from the cooling system as well as more  electric power.. the hybrid ethanol- biodiesel plant has its own methane digestor and power supply and the waste heat is transferred to the laboratory and an additional liberator supplies the power to the plant through an invertor.

 a lot of these components are not in use at this time as we are saving them for when and if the S hits the fan but we do test them on cooasion to make sure they are in operational condition. with the exception of the invertors  batteries , isolators and PV panels all components are  off the shelf items not including of course the methane digestors except for the bag type digestor  which is made from off the shelf inexpensive items.

at this time we run a lot of the time on line power from the utility companyas we want to keep the alternative energy systems in new condition but ready for use in short notice.

. the multi unit  sustainable housing system  we plan on building will also have a replica of what we have in the ecoshelter PV panels are used to charge a bank of batteries and the whole complex will be set up the same way the ecoshelter is set up. we have written various books on living off the grid.. all based on our hands on experiences both here and in mexico. we also have other manuals that inform on solar wind and hydropower, gasification, alcohol fuel methane solar etc all based on hands on learning.

. the ecogenics research center  is situated on a bluff overlooking the pigeon river  we have designed a hydro power system using a hydraulic ram to pump water from the river up to a reservoir tank with a spill way funnelling water down a six inch pipe in which a leffler hydro turbine is installed, the ninety foot vertical  fall of the water pumped up from the river will power the leffler power plant.

 when we decide to build the  multi unit sustainable housing unit we will replicate what  can now runthe ecoshelter and  take the waste heat from the  hybrid ethanol biodiesel plant for additional heating.

we expect that this combination of elements will become a model of sustainable and off the grid living once its completly operational. for the time being we see no to rush  at this time so we occupy our research efforts towards focus on algae  production and biofuels production from algae.as well as to refining the closed loop ecosystem design. but we are ready to go off line if necessary.

soon i plan on moving from this crowded and congested tourist area which has been ruined by  reckless and irresponsible developers and the tourist industry. the research and training center will remain here as it is easily accessible to students and visitors. 

but my new home will be located on a bluff on the french broad river or another of the many rivers we have here in east tennessee, and it will also be located in undeveloped forest land with one  unobstrusive  narrow road in or out, and the Japanese pavilion  style house ill build will embody all of the alternative energy tricks I have learned  about and built during my career and there will be no power lines to it.. nor any congested trashy amusement parks motels or any such trace of human kind at all . just me, the love of my life ,my cat, a grand piano, hd tv, quadraphonic  boze sound system and lots of peace and quiet. a pond full of lotus blossums and koi, and maybe, close by, a small grass strip and hanger  to keep my airplane in..

marc

CORRECTION... that should have read 1000 charging amp alternator

i think i need some new gasses lol

marc

ecogenics3:

the  structure has conventional power but in addition, the house is is wired like an automobile  or RV.with a twelve volt systems

Wow!  No offense but that is really a huge waste of material, upfront installations cost, costly utilization devices, and sacrifices huge energy efficiency from heat/power/wattage losses operating at low voltages and high currents