LED Article

A good deal of research went into this article from Forbes - The LED Illumination Revolution. Good history of lighting and talks about the quality of light. References haitz law which I did not know about. Each decade, LED prices have fallen by a factor of 10 while performance has grown by a factor of 20. Basically Moores Law for LED's.

So this means in 10 years, LED bulbs that sell for $14 should be $1.40 which is competive with CFL's and not that much more than incandescents.

Solar Advance - $100K Funding

It's nice to know there is still room for the little guy and that $100,000 in funding may make a difference. Bloo Solar claims that with it's new technology (if they get it to market) it will reduce the cost of solar so it's competitive. Currently production solar cells are only at 20% efficiency, and 40% in the lab. Bloo Solar is doing more of a 3 dimensional approach and uses thin film solar. The aim is to reduce the cost of manufacturing and increase the efficiency.

LED for Lighting

I did not realize there was a separate magazine for the LED Industry and a trade show! LED's have been a part of electronics for a long time. The small LED (Light Emitting Diode) was used as a small light. Then it became parts of displays, cell phones, then bigger lights as the power improved and the cost went down. The market size currently is $4.6 billion and growing about 11% per year, but growth has been as low as 6% in 2005 and 2006. LED's are great for applications that need low power (cell phones).

First Solar

I read a short article/profile on First Solar in the Wall Street Journal - Best 1-Year Performer: First Solar. Stock price has gone from $20 since their Nov. 2006 IPO to now $219. And the Walton family (WalMart) has been funding it since the beginning. The technology they are using is different than the normal silicon (in short supply) that most solar companies are using, it's cadmium tellurium. Trade off is lower efficiency, but it's available. CIGs (copper indium gallium selenide) is another material for solar that may reduce cost and is what is being called nano, since it can be sprayed on.

Green PC

How to make a Green PC from Ars Tecnica Translation - how to make one that does not use a lot of power. The issue of how the parts are made and what environmental impact and are they made for recyling manufactures are not up to yet . Thanks to Instapundit for the tip.

Green Building Standards

Washington Post Article - Saving the Earth Inside the Office
Discovery Turns Its Spotlight Inward

Good general overview, but does not go into some of the issues with green buildings and how the standards are still evolving.

Trees and Solar

I actually see this problem as a sign of progress! Your neighbor's trees vs. your solar panels occured in Sunnyvale (in the middle of Silicon Valley). The original article from Associated Press.

Key Points:

1. Both parties are environmentalists.
2. $1000 a day fines
3. California Law on how much sunshine a property must get (or else cut down the tree).