http://www.freeenergynews.com/Directory/Water/
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http://freeenergynews.com/
http://www.livegreenordie.com/index.php
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Max_Whisson's_Gust_Water_Trap_Apparatus
http://www.peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Thin_Film_Solar
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JEFF FISHER
http://www.solarvehicles.org/picturesandvideos.html
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http://www.solarvehicles.org/home.html
http://www.solarvehicles.org/images/TorontoStarArticlebyCameronSmith.doc
CELLPHONE BATTERIES POWER FUEL-LESS VEHICLES
Cameron Smith, Toronto Star, 04/02/05
Canada and the United States live within a culture that dotes on the raw speed and brute
power that come from the internal combustion engine. It's a culture that uses fossil
fuels like bodybuilders use steroids.
To Jeff Fisher and William Scully….this culture is a legacy of the past — outdated,
environmentally destructive and, they say, about to be outstripped by technologies that
will make fuel as obsolete as the paddlewheel steamer.
As with all visionaries, they are out to change the world. They want to replace cars with
vehicles that require no fuel, produce no noise and, except for wheels, create no
friction and have no moving parts — meaning no pistons, no gears, no transmission, no
drive shaft, no flywheel, no clutch and, as a consequence, much less weight.
On a factory floor in east-end Montreal, they've built prototypes to demonstrate that
their ideas will work. There are about a dozen among the clutter of work tables, old
bicycle parts, pieces of pipe, nuts and bolts. The vehicles look boxy and rudimentary,
like golf carts designed from a Meccano set. But they work, as Fisher and Scully
demonstrated in a lane behind the factory.
Their prototypes have a maximum speed of 28 km/h, and they've tested them successfully on
a 280-kilometre run.
Conventional terminology would refer to them as solar vehicles. Fisher and Scully call
them fuel-less vehicles to mark them as different from other so-called vehicles for the
future. Instead of heavy conventional lead-acid batteries, they use cellphone batteries
assembled in packs of up to 48. A pack weighs a fraction of a conventional battery and
can be recharged from the solar cells in 20 minutes. A conventional battery can take up
to 12 hours to recharge.
A vehicle will have three to five cellphone battery packs. It can run on one, and when
that is depleted, the driver can switch to another, allowing the depleted one to recharge
on the go. Fisher and Scully buy surplus solar cells and cellphone batteries from stores
for about $3 a cell or battery. Parts for the entire vehicle come to about $1,600. The
prototype weighs 136 kilograms and can carry up to its own weight. It's driven by two
magnets in the hub of the front wheel. Pulses of electricity are sent to the magnets,
creating a negative charge on each. Since negative charges repel, the repelling force is
used to turn the wheel. Speed is varied by changing the frequency of pulses to the
magnets. The more pulses, the greater the repelling force, and the faster the speed.
Their websites, http://www.solarvehicles.org and http://www.uprightsolar.com, contain
technical drawings, which are free to anyone wanting them. They ask only to be informed
of improvements.
http://www.solarvehicles.org/images/TorontoStarArticlebyCameronSmith.doc
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| http://www.scenta.co.uk/scenta/news.cfm?cit_id=1106116&FAArea1=widgets.content_view_1 |
Sent By Ben H.
Written by Hank Green Sunday, 17 September 2006 |
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Organic LEDs take electricity and convert it directly into light, a wonderful and useful purpose that we have great hopes for. But what if the process could run both ways. Sometimes the OLED turns electricity into light, and other times it turns light into electricity. It's basically the same thing, just backwards, right?
Well, apparently, it is possible, as scientists and engineers at Cornell have done it! These have all the wonderful properties of OLED's, they're flexible, they produce a lot of light per watt, and they can be mass produced inexpensively. But also, when exposed to bright light, the reaction is reversed, and a current flows out of the OLED instead of into it.
So now, OLEDs can be both an energy collector and a light emitter, depending on the needs of the consumer. Imagine your cell phone's backlight collecting energy from ambient light when not in use. Or your windows collecting energy during the day and then producing light at night.
Soon, OLEDs may offer both low-cost lighting and low-cost energy production. A paper on this subject was just published in the journal Science, in which the Cornell researchers recognized that they needed to discover ways to make the photovoltaic reaction more efficient before it can be mass produced.
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| Thanks to Yungbum H. |
http://www.deverne.net : The Aquanator
http://deverne.net/2005/04/aquanator.html
The Aquanator
Very interesting ocean current generator with costs equal to wind power. More reliable and less intrusive.
And also take a look at these flexible, inexpensive solar panels.
atlantis energy + nanosolar + konarka posted by deverne at 12:18 AM
1. http://www.atlantisenergy.biz/index.html
2. http://www.nanosolar.com/
3.http://www.konarkatech.com/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=
--------- Forwarded Message ----------
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Sea Solar Power - The 80 degrees F surface water in the tropical oceans serves as the heat source and typically 3,000 feet below the surface is the heat sink or the cold bottom water, which is 40 degrees F. This temperature difference or delta T is sufficient to operate vapor turbines, which drive generators and produces electricity and fresh water as a byproduct.
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http://www.peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Thin_Film_Solar
http://www.freeenergynews.com/Directory/Water/
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Magenn index page - Inflatable, rotating balloon, wind turbine design scheduled for market readiness in 2006; at a price close to grid power.
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http://faq.solarbotics.net/oscillate.html
BEAM Robotics Tek - solar engine
The mobile electrons at the edge of the n-type semiconductor flow over the boundary ... Try wiring up the cells so they generate about 4 volts, which should ...
faq.solarbotics.net/oscillate.html |
Copyleft
The document(s) on the Tek site are provided as is without any express or implied warranties. While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this article, the [author, maintainer, or contributors] assume(s) no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use or misuse of the information contained herein.
All materials in this site are available under the terms of the GNU General Public License. You may use, modify and redistribute all materials here under the terms of this agreement unless otherwise stated.
Copyleft 1996-1998 by Brian O. Bush
However, the versions of the Nervous Network (including the Solar Engine) contained (or linked to) herein were invented and internationally patented by Mark W. Tilden. Commercial usage is strictly prohibited unless arrangements are made with the patent holder, Mark W. Tilden (mwtilden@lanl.gov).
Thanks, Brian
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Which Type of Ocean Wave Energy Converter Produces the Most Power?
By Briston T.
My Board at the 2002 Regional Science and Engineering Fair
TURBINES, WATERWHEELS, GENERATORS, AND
ELECTRIC MOTORS
A turbine is a rotary machine that converts energy from moving steam, water, or gas into mechanical energy. The basic structure of a turbine is wheel rotor with paddles, blades, propellers, or bucket arranged around the circumference of the device. Then the fluid flows past the turbine making it spin and create energy. The energy from the spinning wheel or rotor is transferred through a drive shaft to an electric generator or specialty machine. Turbines are classified as hydraulic (water) turbines, steam turbines, or gas turbines. Today turbines connected to generators produces most of the world’s renewable electrical energy.
The waterwheel is the oldest and simplest type of hydraulic turbine. The waterwheel was used in Greece and subsequently adopted in most of ancient and medieval Europe for grinding grain. A swiftly flowing stream was the main component in the production energy. The flowing water turned a wheel with large horizontal paddles. The wheel was connected to a shaft and turned gears to grind grain and later producing electricity. As time went by waterwheels became outdated and they a hardly used to day.
One type of generator creates energy by using coils of wire that are spun in a magnetic field. A turbine-driven shaft provides the spinning motion of the wire coils. When the shaft rotates, the magnetic field points in one direction and then another. When the wire coils are closest to the two magnets it has the strongest electrical current. As the shaft further, the electrical current drops to zero at the point where the wires are directly between the magnets. The magnetic field reverses when the current increases in the opposite direction.
An electric motor is a device that converts electrical energy into movement. There are millions of electric motors ranging from toy cars to hybrid electric cars being used around the world. Most motors have the magnets on the outside and the spinning coils of wire on the inside. When an electrical current flows through the coil, the coil becomes magnetized. The direction of the current changes and to coil goes in the opposite direction. As longs as the current in the coils reverses every half-turn, the coils keeps turning around and it produces motion through a shaft or gears. There are alternating currents (AC) and direct current (DC) in different types of motors.
http://share3.esd105.wednet.edu/mcmillend/02SciProj/Briston%20T/Bristont.htm
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| http://pesn.com/2005/12/23/9600211_Magenn_Floating_Wind_Generators/ |
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Inflatable, rotating-balloon wind turbine design scheduled for market readiness in 2006; at a price close to grid power.
by Sterling D. Allan
Pure Energy Systems News
Top 100
Magenn Power's Floating Wind Generators Nearing Deployment
Inflatable, rotating-balloon wind turbine design scheduled for market readiness in 2006; at a price close to grid power.
by Sterling D. Allan
Pure Energy Systems News
Copyright © 2005
If you saw the movie Stealth, you'll remember the floating refueling station. Yes, the U.S. military and other governments do have the ability to keep very heavy payloads aloft via specially-designed helium balloons made of Kevlar.
Commissioned in the 1980s with the task of lifting 60,000 lbs to 1000 feet, or 6,000 lbs to 10,000 feet, Magenn Power actually got its start with Star Wars funding.
Invented by Fred Ferguson, world renowned in the airship business, the Magenn Power Air Rotor System (MARS) is a spin-off of that earlier military contract. Turning at the speed of wind, the inflatable paddle wheel starts spinning at 2 meters per second, and will handles winds in excess of 28 meters per second.
Helium is not the only thing that keeps the object aloft. Combined with its shape, the spinning generates lift using what is called the Magnus effect, which also tends to keep the craft overhead on its tether, rather than drifting downwind.
Harnessed by generators located at each end, the energy is transferred down the tether to a transformer at a ground station.
The company website says that these modules will be able to generate electricity competitively, and that a 4 kW system will be available for sale as early as April, 2006. A 1.6 MW size is slated to be ready in 2009.
The end-of-the-day price CEO Mac Brown cited was 3.1 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is below wholesale for most grids -- that is in 2009, when they get their 1.6 MW unit. The 4 kW system is expected to cost around 10.5 cents / kW-h.
In comparison to other wind systems, one of the savings is in not having to erect a tower. The system can be set up and taken down relatively easily. Therefore, carrying out regular quarterly maintenance is not expected to be a big expense.
Helium leakage is not an issue under normal conditions; excess air turbulence and gusting might present a small risk but this craft has been designed to withstand challenges. Unlike in a child's balloon, helium leaks at a rate of only half of a percent per month in these designs.
As the turbines spin only at the speed of the wind and don’t have the tip-speed issue associated with long blades. noise is non-noticeable at ground level. The company has also designed the unit to handle lightning strikes, and of course have a well-tested grounding system. The shell is coated with a U.V. block, enabling it to last from 10 to 25 years.
Because of the tether and the possibility of tangling with a nearby floating generator, the units will need to be spaced adequately. Because depending on size they can be deployed at heights ranging from 200 to 1000 feet, they will have to be located outside the airport approach zones, and as with any tower must be properly marked, lighted and registered for air traffic avoidance.
The company expects to begin by targeting key markets in emergency energy deployment and developing nations. Brown says that the helium-filled tethered generator would also be suitable for oil platforms and other marine stations or ships.
A wind farm installation is slated for Southern Ontario, beginning in about a year.
The company has secured patents in 161 countries to protect this design worldwide.
Magenn Power Inc. will start manufacturing its Air Rotors in Fall of 2006 and will start taking product orders in April of 2006 for the 4.0 kW MARS units.
# # #
SOURCES:
See also
Copyright © 2005
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HARNESSING OCEAN WAVE ENERGY
The force of ocean waves can create enormous amounts of energy if it is captured properly. The sound and sight of gigantic waves from a brewing storm crashing into a cliff is a phenomenal experience. For years scientists and engineers have been trying to capture this energy. Many experiments led to successful devices that harness energy from the ocean waves.
European countries were the first to establish the idea of harnessing energy from ocean waves. When the wind blows waves are created across the surface of the water, but waves are present when the wind is not blowing. Even though there are many different types of devices that convert ocean waves into energy they all have a turbine or generator that is connected to a electrical storage unit.
Building ocean wave energy converters are complicated because they must be strong enough to withstand the constant battering of the wind and waves, but some devices have to be light enough to float. The conversion of potential and kinetic energy of waves into electricity produces wave energy. The devices that produce energy from ocean waves have been designed to operate either near the shoreline of offshore in deeper waters. Devices in deeper water produce more electricity because the waves are much larger than the ones near the shore. Wave and tidal climate heavily influence Wave energy devices that are located in shallow waters. The wave power in shallow waters can vary from year to year. Waves in shallow water do not have the bobbing motion of deep-sea waves because the waves start to break when the gets close to the shore.
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| http://share3.esd105.wednet.edu/mcmillend/02SciProj/Briston%20T/Bristont.htm |
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Sea Solar Power - The 80 degrees F surface water in the tropical oceans serves as the heat source and typically 3,000 feet below the surface is the heat sink or the cold bottom water, which is 40 degrees F. This temperature difference or delta T is sufficient to operate vapor turbines, which drive generators and produces electricity and fresh water as a byproduct.
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Power Chips™ Convert Heat to Electricity - Chips use thermionics to convert heat directly into electricity with a Carnot heat pump efficiency of up to 70-80%. This will be one of the first industrial applications of nanotechnology. http://www.powerchips.gi/ Power Chips™, which use thermionics to convert heat directly into electricity, will be one of the first industrial applications of nanotechnology. These small, solid-state devices promise to improve current power generation and waste heat recovery techniques. Power Chips will deliver up to 70-80% of the maximum (Carnot) theoretical efficiency for heat pumps (conventional power generation equipment operates at up to 40% Carnot efficiency).
Power Chips plc has devised "Power Chips" which generate electricity by using heat to move electrons from one side of a vacuum diode to the other. The system, currently under development, contains no moving parts or motors and can be either miniaturized or scaled to very large sizes for use in a variety of applications. Whether it is to recover energy from the waste heat of traditional engines and turbines, or to replace them completely with a compact and efficient solid-state system, Power Chips present product engineers and project managers with a broad array of design options.
We are actively seeking licensees and development partners for a number of specific applications of Power Chip technology. Our current development efforts are centered around increasing power density of research prototypes and refining manufacturing processes to complete production prototypes.
More detailed information on Power Chips can be found by reviewing our patent portfolio in the Technology section of this site. If you have specific questions about your potential application for Power Chips, feel free to contact us.
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Image:Thin film battery 95x95.jpg
From PESWiki
Thin film battery
from http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/17513/
Image history
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http://www.unirac.com/integ/bi_pg100.htm
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© 2004 courtesy EETS
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The Solar Wall, Wales
Download On-Site Application Sheet (PDF, 171 KB)
SolarMount solved two problems faced by designers of the Solar Wall at the Welsh Development Agency technology center in St. Asaph, North Wales. It allowed clear ventilation behind the panels, minimizing operating temperatures and thus maximizing output. SolarMount bottom-mounting clips also secured PV modules from behind, giving the array a smooth external finish.
Following consultation with UniRac, SolarMount rails were cold-rolled around a 3-meter radius, allowing them to follow the curving facade of the building. No distortion of mounting slots or rail sections resulted.
The Solar Wall was engineered by the Energy Equipment Testing Service (EETS) and completed in January 2004. The intallation generates generates up to 85 kilowatts of electricity from 2,400 Shell Solar CIS thin film modules.
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UniRac, Inc. • Albuquerque NM USA • 505.242.6411
© 2007, UniRac, Inc. All rights reserved.
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http://www.unirac.com/integ/bi_pg100.htm
http://pureenergysystems.com/
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---------- Forwarded Message --------- Chris M wrote , Forward:
China Poised To Lead Home Solar Cell Explosion China's Sunshine Boys By Thomas L. Friedman 3-10-7 So here's a little news quiz: Guess who's the seventh-richest man in China today, with a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at $1.43 billion? Answer:
Shi Zhengrong. Now guess what he does. Real estate? No. Banking?
No.Manufacturing for Wal-Mart? No. Construction? No.
Mr. Shi is China's leading maker of silicon photovoltaic solar cells,
which convert sunlight into electricity. Yes, the seventh-richest man in China is a green
entrepreneur!
It should only happen in America.
Mr. Shi thinks, as I do, that renewable clean power - wind, solar, bio-fuels - is going to be the growth industry
of the 21st century, and he wants to make sure that China and his company, Suntech Power Holdings, are the
leaders. Only 43 years old and full of energy himself, Mr. Shi hopes to do for solar energy what China did for
tennis shoes: drive down the cost so that millions of people who could not afford solar photovoltaic panels will
be able to do so.
As an environmentalist, I wish him well. As an American, I worry that if we don't start doing everything we can
to develop our own clean power, we're going to miss out on the green industrial revolution. Today, most of our
hybrid cars are imported from Japan. Tomorrow, if Mr. Shi has his way, most of our solar panels will come from
China.
What Mr. Shi understands is that China is going to have to go green. Its rivers and
air are becoming so polluted it has no choice. In fact, as he and I spoke in his 66th-
floor office in Shanghai, the air was so dirty you could barely make out the skyscrapers
down the street.
America, alas, still seems to think it has a choice in going green. So while China will be compelled to move into
this industry, U.S. companies may or may not, depending on whether states, or Washington, require power
providers to generate energy from renewables.
For years our brain-dead Congress thought it was helping our power companies and manufacturers by not
imposing tough energy-efficiency standards on them. In fact, it was just helping some of them commit
suicide. Congress's idiotic decision not to impose higher mileage standards on U.S. carmakers helped Detroit
miss the market and almost go bankrupt. China already has higher mileage standards for its autos than we do.
"People at all levels in China have become more aware of this environment issue and alternative energy,"
said Mr. Shi. "Five years ago when I started the company people said: 'Why do we need solar? We have
a surplus of coal-powered electricity.' Now it is different; now people realize that solar has a bright future.
But it is still too expensive."
Mr. Shi founded Suntech in Wuxi, China, near Shanghai, after earning a Ph.D. in engineering in Australia in 1992.
As The Wall Street Journal put it in a recent profile, Suntech combines "first world technology and developing
world prices" - so effectively it has become one of the world's four top solar manufacturers, along with Sharp
and Kyocera of Japan and BP.
The key, Mr. Shi explained to me, is that he uses more low-cost Chinese labor, rather than high-tech machines,
to make his solar modules and handle the fragile silicon, and he takes advantage of the subsidies offered by
different Chinese provinces dying for him to open a Suntech factory in their region. Roughly 90 percent of his
business today is abroad. But as he brings the price down, the China market will open up, and he expects to
use that to gain much greater scale and drive the price of his solar modules down further.
"If we have a market here, we feel confident we will be a cost leader," he says. "Now we are at around $4 per watt.
In 10 years time, I'm pretty sure we will be below $2 per watt," which would make solar competitive and scalable.
Thanks to Suntech's success, "now there is a rush of [Chinese] business people
entering this sector, even though we still don't have a market here," added Mr. Shi.
"Many government people now say, 'This is an industry!' " To help, the Chinese
government just passed a law mandating that China get 10 percent of its energy
from renewables, like solar, by 2020.
China is setting high standards for renewables, but is still weak on enforcement. America
is better at enforcement, but still weak on setting high standards. We need to get our act together, because eventually China will bring its enforcement in line with its regulations -
or it won't breathe. And when that happens, China's emerging green power entrepreneurs
could clean our clock in the clean power business.
Oh, well, you can always buy a share. Suntech is already listed on the New York Stock
Exchange.
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From JBM
Start-Up Fervor Shifts to Energy in Silicon Valley
Andrew Beebe is the president of Energy Innovations, which makes low-cost solar panels.
New York Times - published: March 14, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO, March 13 — Silicon Valley’s dot-com era may be
giving way to the watt-com era.
Out of the ashes of the Internet bust, many technology veterans have
regrouped and found a new mission in alternative energy: developing
wind power, solar panels, ethanol plants and hydrogen-powered cars.
It is no secret that venture capitalists have
begun pouring billions into energy-related
start-ups with
names like SunPower, Nanosolar and
Lilliputian Systems.
The company he's beginning to build, Lilliputian Systems, plans to offer generators the same size as today's cell phone and laptop batteries, ...
home.att.net/~kirsner/atlarge/061801.html - 9k - Cached - Similar pages |
Report: Fuel-cell maker Lilliputian Systems raises $30M,
boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2005/11/07/daily1.html?jst=b_ln_hl - 79k - Cached - Similar pages |
Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. said last month that it had provided an undisclosed amount of debt financing to Lilliputian Systems, a developer of ...
extremefuelcells.com/article/Lilliputian+Systems+Adds+Funding/171016_1.aspx |
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Fuel Cell Phones
and many other
fuel cell products
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But that interest is now spilling over to many others
in Silicon Valley — lawyers, accountants, recruiters
and publicists, all developing energy-oriented
practices to cater to the cause.
The best and the brightest from leading business schools are pelting energy
start-ups with résumés. And, of course, there are entrepreneurs from all
backgrounds — but especially former dot-commers — who express a sense
of wonder and purpose at the thought of transforming the $1 trillion domestic
energy market while saving the planet.
“It’s like 1996,” said Andrew Beebe, one of the remade Internet entrepreneurs.
In the boom, he ran Bigstep.com, which helped small businesses sell online.
Today, he is president of Energy Innovations, which makes low-cost solar
panels. “The Valley has found a new hot spot.”
Mr. Beebe said the Valley’s potential to generate change was vast. But he
cautioned that a frenzy was mounting, the kind that could lead to over
investment and poorly thought-out plans.
“We’ve started to see some of the bad side of the bubble activity starting
to brew,” Mr. Beebe said.
The energy boomlet is part of a broader rebound that is benefiting all kinds
of start-ups, including plenty that are focused on the Web. But for many in
Silicon Valley, high tech has given way to “clean tech,” the shorthand term
for innovations that are energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. Less
fashionable is “green,” a word that suggests a greater interest in the
environment than in profit.
The similarities to past booms are obvious, but the Valley has always run in
cycles. It is a kind of renewable gold rush, a wealth- and technology-creating
principle that is always looking for something around which to organize.
In this case, the energy sector is not so distant from other Silicon Valley
specialties as it might appear, say those involved in the new wave of start-ups.
The same silicon used to make computer chips converts sunlight into electricity
on solar panels, while the bioscience used to make new drugs can be employed
to develop better ethanol processing.
More broadly, the participants here say their whole approach to building new
companies and industries is easily transferable to the energy world. But some
wonder whether this is just an echo of the excessive optimism of the Internet
boom. And even those most involved in the trend say the size of the market
opportunity in energy is matched by immense hurdles.
Starting a clean technology firm is “not like starting an online do-it-yourself
legal company,” said Dan Whaley, chief executive of Climos, a San Francisco
company that is developing organic processes to remove carbon from the
atmosphere. “Scientific credibility is the primary currency that drives the
thing I’m working on.”
Just what that thing is, he would not specify. For competitive reasons,
Mr. Whaley declined to get into details about his company’s technology.
His advisory board includes prominent scientists, among them his mother,
Margaret Leinen, the head of geosciences for the National Science Foundation.
In the last Silicon Valley cycle, Mr. Whaley’s help came from his father. In
1994, he did some of the early work from his father’s living room on
GetThere.com, a travel site. It went public in 1999 and was bought by
Sabre for $750 million in 2000.
This time around, entrepreneurs say they are not expecting such quick returns.
In the Internet boom, the mantra was to change the world and get rich quick.
This time, given the size and scope of the energy market, the idea is to change
the world and get even richer — but somewhat more slowly.
Those drawn to the alternative-energy industry say that they need time to
understand the energy technology, and to turn ideas into solid companies.
After all, in contrast to the Internet boom, this time the companies will need
actual manufactured products and customers.
“There are real business models and real products to be sold — established
markets and growing economics,” said George Basile, who has a doctorate in
biophysics from the University of California, Berkeley and specializes in energy
issues.
Mr. Basile has just stepped into the fray himself. In January, he became the
executive adviser for energy issues at Bite Communications, a San Francisco
public relations firm with scores of technology clients that is now working to
attract energy start-ups.
The sudden interest of lawyers, accountants and other members of the wider
Valley ecosystem strikes some as opportunistic.
“There’s a large amount of bandwagon-jumping right now,” said Mark Hampton,
chief executive of Blanc & Otus, a technology-oriented public relations firm whose
clients have included TiVo, Sybase and Compaq. Still, he understands the interest
of relative newcomers: “There’s a huge opportunity.”
They are all, plainly, following the money. In the first three quarters of 2006,
venture capital firms put $474 million into a broad range of Silicon Valley start-ups
in energy storage, generation and efficiency, according to Cleantech Venture
Network, an industry trade group. Energy was by far the fastest-growing area
of interest, and the amount was on par with what was put into telecommunications
and biotechnology.
Yet the amount of money involved is still relatively small compared with the
boom years. Over all, venture funding last year was still less than a third of
the nearly $34 billion venture capitalists invested in the region in 2000, the
peak of the bubble, according to the Center for the Continuing Study of the
California Economy, based in Palo Alto.
“This is not 2000. It doesn’t feel like 2000 on the street,” said Stephen Levy,
the center’s director. But, he said, “there’s no doubt there’s a buzz.”
Mr. Levy said that Silicon Valley was getting a lift from the public’s interest in
finding energy sources and from government involvement in creating subsidies
and policies that promote such sources. Still, he said, the ventures are clearly
risky.
“We’ll have a sense very quickly — within two to four years — whether any of this venture capital has produced any products or services that are market-worthy,”
Mr. Levy said.
Apart from the profit motive, many here say they are driven by more unselfish
concerns: cleaning up the atmosphere and creating energy independence for the
United States. One of the phrases heard most often in the industry is: “Do well
by doing good.” Al Gore, with his warnings of global warming, has been a Valley
darling of late.
“The résumés I’m getting now are almost identical to the ones I got seven years
ago for CarsDirect.com,” said Larry Gross, chief executive of Altra , a company he
founded in Los Angeles that is producing ethanol and developing fuels made from
plants. “The quality, the schools, the work experience, the enthusiasm for wanting
to fix something.”
Mr. Gross in 1991 helped found Knowledge Adventure, which made educational
software, making him one of the many tech alumni in the energy world. For that company, he said he attracted around $20 million in venture capital; he has
received $245 million for Altra. Mr. Gross said investors and entrepreneurs are
drawn to energy by what drew them to hardware and software: the chance for
huge growth in volatile markets.
Mr. Gross is the brother of Bill Gross, a technology-era icon whose business
incubator Idealab spawned many successful start-ups, including Citysearch
and WeddingChannel. Bill Gross is now chief executive of Energy Innovations,
the solar panel start-up based in Pasadena, Calif., with Mr. Beebe as president.
Mr. Beebe said there were profound similarities between the Internet boom and
the miniboom in energy. For one, he said, just as the Internet promised to
decentralize computing and put control in the hands of users, the Silicon Valley
version of energy innovation intends to decentralize the industry by making power generation more local — like solar panels on rooftops.
In 1998, Mr. Beebe was a co-founder of Bigstep and raised $75 million in venture
funding. At its peak, the company had 150 employees, with most of them laid
off during the bust. The company was later sold for less money than it raised —
hardly a dot-com success. So does Mr. Beebe have the track record to make
a solar energy company profitable?
“I face that question on a regular basis,” he said. “Only my actions will be able
to answer it.” But he added that he felt confident about the political and market conditions for energy start-ups. He said the entrenched oil, coal and gas companies
could not ultimately compete with the more efficient and environmentally friendly concepts Silicon Valley envisions.
“The idea of them turning a supertanker is an apt analogy,” he said.
“They cannot take us over, they can only try to resist.”
This Email has been scanned by Norton Anti-Communist
QUOTATION
"It is no secret that venture capitalists have begun pouring billions into energy-related
start-ups with names like SunPower, Nanosolar and Lilliputian Systems.
But that interest is now spilling over to many others in Silicon Valley — lawyers,
accountants, recruiters and publicists, all developing energy-oriented practices to
cater to the cause."
SunPower
Nanosolar
Lilliputian Systems
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| Directory:Thin Film Solar From PESWiki http://peswiki.com/energy/Directory:Nanotechnology |
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| JEFF FISHER |
http://www.solarvehicles.org/picturesandvideos.html |
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Nanosolar has developed proprietary technology that makes it possible
to simply roll-print ... 1/2005: IBM's top manufacturing executive joins Nanosolar. ...
www.nanosolar.com/ - 12k - Cached - Similar pages
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