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2010: year of the hybrid?

January 11th, 2010, 3:32 pm by

Automakers have long promised the advent of the plug-in hybrid, which gets high gas mileage, produces few emissions and can be charged up in a standard outlet. This year, says Register auto writer Matt Degen, they will make good on the promise.

honda-crz1A variety of plug-in hybrids are coming to market in 2010, Degen says; read his preview of hybrids and other new cars automakers hope will reverse slumping sales.

(Photo of Honda CR-Z hybrid, confirmed for production Monday at the Detroit Auto Show, by the Associated Press.)

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Reader poll: Obama’s $2.3 billion in clean-energy tax credits

January 8th, 2010, 3:13 pm by

President Obama announced $2.3 billion in tax credits Friday for clean-energy projects in 43 states. Read Bloomberg News story. obamataxcredit

The tax credits are aimed at clean-energy manufacturing projects, including some in California. Drawn from the $787 billion stimulus package, the credits are expected to create more than 17,000 jobs.

We’d like to know what you think.

(Photo of Obama announcing tax credit in White House East Room by Alex Wong, Getty Images.)

Should the Obama administration offer $2.3 billion in clean-energy tax credits?
View Results

Posted in: Alternative energy • Green business • Green politics • • • | 22 Comments »

Solar trash-masher debuts — quietly — in O.C.

December 18th, 2009, 4:43 pm by

Orange County’s first solar-powered, streetside trash compactor was installed on a Mission Viejo walkway Friday, as promised, and accepted its first bit of trash with little fanfare — and no noise. compactorss2

The compactor, about the size of a 35-gallon trash can, will compact 85 gallons of material before it has to be emptied. Waste Management, which has deployed the compactors in Los Angeles, Oceanside, Philadelphia and other cities, plans to scatter them around Orange County as well.

Power is stored in a 12-volt battery, so it can compact even when the sun is not shining. A small solar panel covers the top of the can, and beside it is a twin receptacle without a compactor for recyclable material.

“It pays for itself in two years,” said David Ross, director of public sector services for Waste Management of Orange County. “And you’re doing the right thing. It’s sustainable, and (its) life is indefinite.”

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Posted in: Alternative energy • Green events • • | 2 Comments »

Smashing trash with solar power

December 17th, 2009, 3:00 pm by

They seem to turn heads wherever they’re installed: new solar-powered trash compactors that are meant to save time and energy. solartrashgoc

Orange County will receive its first set Friday, when Waste Management of Orange County demonstrates the technology outside Mission Viejo City Hall.

The machines, about the size of a 35-gallon trash can, can smash about 85 gallons worth of garbage — cutting down on the number of trips for trash collection as well as the amount of fuel used and the hours of employee-time spent collecting.

They’re called the “Big Belly Solar Compactor,” said David Ross, director of public sector services for Waste Management of Orange County.

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Solar competitor: Don’t “do it yourself”

December 11th, 2009, 4:43 pm by
David Kaltsas, SunWize

David Kaltsas, SunWize

A recent post about Lowe’s selling solar panels off store shelves sparked plenty of commentary,  including a competing company’s assertion that “do-it-yourself” solar is a bad idea — one that could land homeowners in more trouble than they bargained for.

Lowe’s is beginning a pilot project in California, selling the panels at 21 stores (so far none in Orange County). And while they advise hiring an electrician to connect the panels to home electrical systems, the idea behind the sales is to “do-it-yourself.”

David Kaltsas, executive vice president of SunWize Technologies, a company based in San Jose with an office in Tustin, said there are a host of thorny issues that come with any solar installation, and that such work is best left to the experts.

“Installing solar electric is a complicated process that involves roofing, electricians; it involves a high level of understanding of how to fit a system to optimize it for homeowners use,” he said. “And it requires a high level of understanding what is the regulatory and permitting requirements.”

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Posted in: Alternative energy • Green business • • | 11 Comments »

Do-it-yourself solar panels? Now on sale, aisle 3

December 10th, 2009, 11:52 am by

Lowe’s is now selling do-it-yourself solar panels in some California stores in a pilot project the home improvement giant hopes to take nationwide. DIY Solar

The 54-pound panels, which can be plucked by customers from store shelves for $893 apiece, are meant to be bolted to roofs of homes; though single panels are fairly low-wattage — 175 watts, about enough to power a flat-screen TV — they can be snapped together like Legos, allowing customers to add panels over time.

Twenty such panels would be needed to equal a typical professionally installed system.

They connect directly to home power systems.

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Posted in: Alternative energy • Green products and services • • | 10 Comments »

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