Northeast States Teaming Up to Build EV Charging Network

The West Coast has wasted no time building electric vehicle corridors, but so far the Northeast has lagged behind on electric car infrastructure, especially considering the size of the population there. Luckily, the lagging behind will soon end. A new regional initiative called the Northeast Electric Vehicle Network will bring together 11 states plus Washington, D.C. to build an electric car charging network. The network plans to bring hundreds of chargers online over the next couple of years to encourage adoption of EVs in the region.

The states participating are Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. Maine will be represented on a city level instead of statewide. The states will team up with automakers, both large retailers and small shops and charging network companies to work on placing charging stations in the most convenient locations.

Out of the 15,000 EVs currently on the road in the U.S., surprisingly only about 1,000 of them are in the Northeast. These states want to encourage more EV use not just for environmental reasons, but also because it will save them money. The Northeast imports about 25 billion gallons of oil each year, so if all-electric vehicles replaced just 5 percent of conventional ones, the region could save $4.6 billion every year. I'd call that a win-win.

If President Obama's call for one million plug-in vehicles on the road by 2015 comes to fruition, based on population, about 200,000 will be hitting Northeastern roads. Good thing those drivers will have a place to charge up.

via Inside Climate News

Huge Sahara Desert Solar Project to Break Ground Next Year

The massive Dersertec Initiative, which will include several solar power plants constructed in the Sahara Desert, as well as parts of the MIddle East and Europe, is coming together as planned. The first plant, a 500-MW concentrated solar installation, is now set to break ground next year.

This first plant will be located in Morocco and cost about $2.8 billion and will take two to four years to complete. The first phase of the plant will be 7.4 square miles and have a capacity of 150 MW.

The Dersertec Initiative is being funded by a large consortium of European companies and organizations. The huge project is expected to provide 15 to 20 percent of Europe's electricity needs by 2050, while also providing electricity to the Middle East and Northern Africa.

via CleanTechnica

Greener Solar Panels with Bio-Based Backsheets

Written by Philip Proefrock on 30/10/11 Solar panels can be even greener with the use of the BioSolar backsheet, which recently obtained provisional UL certification which allows for its sale to the general market. This backsheet is made from materials derived from castor beans instead of polyester and Tedlar films. The backsheet of a solar panel is the the structure that carries the other materials. It also serves as an electrical insulator and a weathertight enclosure on the back side of the panel. Not only does the bio-based backsheet replace the need for petroleum products, but the thermal performance of the BioSolar material is better than currently used materials, allowing for faster heat dissipation and lower operating temperatures, which improves solar panel performance. "This new tough bio-based material will be able to offer the durability and environmental characteristics of conventional petroleum-based plastics, such as electromagnetic properties, mechanical strength, dimensional stability, and weatherability required by PV solar applications. " With petroleum prices rising, the use of bio-based materials offers lower cost and greater price stability. Furthermore, production of the new backsheet material does not require new, proprietary equipment for manufacture, so the technology can be readily adopted without businesses incurring additional capital costs related to choosing to use the new material. via: Solar Thermal Magazine