General Energy
Heat Pumps: Good Enough for Queen Elizabeth so Why Not for the Northeast?
George W. Bush, the Queen of England, Sir Elton John, and Sir Richard Branson probably don’t have much in common, but they all have installed ground source heat pumps. And it’s not just a technology for the rich and famous. Habitat for Humanity installed heat pumps...
Distributed Energy Resources as a Solution to the San Onofre Outage
In 2011, the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station supplied nearly 20 percent of Southern California's electricity. This year, the plant has generated almost nothing. Since early January, the plant has sat idle after the plant's operators discovered leaks in the steam generator.
Breaking Down the Buzz about Big Data
“Big data” is the buzzword du jour in the energy efficiency world. That’s right, “smart grid” is losing its title as the little understood, least agreed upon term that everyone loves to use. But that is not to say that such concepts are without merit. In fact, one would be foolish to discount their importance.
Price, Risk Standards Required for Scaling U.S. Commercial & Industrial Solar
By most measures, the U.S. solar industry is doing very well with gross installation rates, growing by at least 2x per year for the past several years. Yet, sustaining recent growth rates—or even accelerating the market’s pace—is far from guaranteed.
Hurricane Disasters and Debris: Don’t Let Renewable Fuel Go to Waste
The smart grid can usher in a whole new way of interacting with the electricity system. When storms knock down wires, smart sensors can detect and isolate the problem without us noticing. Or, if we’re feeling especially ambitious, we can program our electric vehicle to automatically charge when electricity prices are low. To do this, the smart grid requires a robust communications network.
