Solar Impulse 2 Journey Around the World Map (Source: Solar Impulse)
Solar Impulse 2 Diagram (Source: Solar Impulse)
Solar Impulse 2 Touchdown in Mandalay (Source: Solar Impulse)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
It’s a historical moment in Chongqing, China ! On March 30, 2015, just after 17:30 GMT, Solar Impulse 2 (the Solar Plane) has completed the fifth leg of its around-the-world flight. Solar Impulse is the first solar powered plane that has flown around the world! Due to weather conditions, the Solar Impulse team is laying over in southwest China for more than just a brief stop (as in the original plan) before pushing forward to Nanjing in eastern China and onward to Hawaii.
Solar Impulse 2 or HB-SIB would not have existed without the experience from Solar Impulse 1 or HB-SIA. Below is a video of Solar Impulse 1 or HB-SIA, “Best of 2010” of Solar Impulse:
It’s been almost three weeks since the beginning of the journey (of 12 legs) of HB-SIB that began from Abu Dhabi. The complete journey is expected to circumnavigate the globe and returning to the Emirate in few months. Solar Impulse has set two world records: First, the longest distance covered (1,468 km) on a single trip by manned solar plane between Muscat, Oman, and Ahmedabad, India. Second, the ground speed of 117 knots (216 km/h; 135 mph) achieved during the leg between Varanasi, India and Mandalay, Myanmar.
This fifth leg has proven to be not so easy for the Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard, Besides covering a distance of 1,375 km and facing some difficult winds while approaching Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, the local controllers also asked Piccard to delay his arrival due to the pressure of commercial traffic. This truly reflects the journey of Solar Energy Age, for despite all of its obstacles that needed to be overcome, its future is certain to be bright. Its future has arrived!
For all of you who is interested in seeing a Clean Future, please visit: futureisclean.org
During this 4-part series of posts (started on March 20, 2015) about the importance of collaborations and Chinese solar companies, another company worth noting is BYD Company, an acronym derived from the phrase “Build Your Dream“. BYD Co Ltd (simplified Chinese: 比亚迪股份有限公司;traditional Chinese: 比亞迪股份有限公司; pinyin: Bǐyàdí Gǔfēn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī) is a Chinese manufacturer of automobiles and rechargeable batteries based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. It has two major subsidiaries, BYD Automobile and BYD Electronic. Hailed for its innovations, BYD has grown to become a major manufacturer of rechargeable batteries, most notably mobile phone batteries. BYD topped the 2010 Bloomberg BusinessweekTech 100 list, a list of large, fast-growing tech companies.
During the World Smart Energy Week 2015 (Feb. 25-27, 2015) in Tokyo, Japan, this has been presented about BYD, below (in italics):
BYD Co., Ltd is a leading-edge provider of green energy technologies that specializes in the IT, automotive, and new energy industries. Being the world’s biggest rechargeable battery manufacturer, BYD also has the largest global market share for cell-phone chargers and keypads. BYD branched out into the auto business in 2003, and has kept a robust yearly growth rate successively. In 2008, Warren Buffett invested $232 million to take a 9.89% stake in BYD. Today, BYD is the fastest-growing Chinese auto company and a global pioneer in the field of new energy vehicles including Dual Mode Electric Models and Pure Electric Models.
Based on its core Fe Battery technology, BYD has worked out a Green City Solution, which aims to electrify urban public transportation systems by transitioning from gasoline and diesel buses and taxis to pure electric ones. In March 2012, BYD and Daimler AG officially announced the entirely new EV brand Denza in China.
In 2014, BYD andStrata (Strata Solar of Chapel Hill, NC) worked together to implement BYD’s world leading battery technology into a series of Strata Solar’s utility farm projects in order to maximize production and efficiencies. Markus Wilhelm, Strata Solar’s CEO said “We have been very impressed with BYD’s focus on solar and storage technology. BYD’s renewable energy division is highly vertically integrated, which benefits from strong engineering competence, and research and production capabilities in panel manufacturing, racking, inverter technology, and comprehensive storage solutions. During our meetings with Chairman Wang and his staff we had the opportunity to confirm Strata’s alignment with BYD’s global vision and strategy for solar energy. Strata’s unique and rapidly growing utility scale solar business will provide BYD with a large and scalable platform for their current and new technology.”
Strata Solar completed nearly 200 MW’s of solar across 30 installations in 2013. Strata added 300 – 400 MW’s in 2014 and has a pipeline of 1.5 gigawatts in the making. Residents in North Carolina have benefited tremendously from such collaborations that they are expanding their reach (to be presented in our next post).
With its combined expertise in PV and storage, BYD is providing comprehensive on-and off-grid solutions in various markets as power storage becomes an important component of PV solution. The company has shipped about half of its storage solutions to solar and the other half to other renewable energy applications.BYD has also collaborated with the U.S. multinational energy company Chevron in a project in the Middle East. For residential PV market in the U.S., where residential users pay the highest prices for electricity in the morning and evening, utilizing the DESS (Distributed Energy Storage System) of BYD, homeowners can tap the stored electricity in the morning and then do the same in the evening after the PV system has provided new energy to the battery. And during the night, the battery can be charged using power provided from the grid at off-peak rates.
Other international collaborative efforts: turning to Taiwanese cell manufacturers or setting up production facility in the U.S. in coming up with a duty-free solution for the U.S. market;expansion of module production plant in South Africa;partnership in Europe via juwi Holding AG in Germany for solar panels; positioning itself for the Japanese large-scale ground-mounted PV market; teaming up with the Canberra-based utility AGL Energy in supplying panels to a 400 MW PV project in Australia. With its chain of R & D centers in Shanghai, Ningbo, and Shenzhen providing strong base and its four 100 MW module production lines in Shanghai, BYD’s competitiveness is assured going forward in energy storage, solar energy products, and transportation vehicles.
It is clear that in order for any company, solar or otherwise, to succeed, the name of the game is: Solving Problems and Collaborations. In our 21st century global economy, barriers such as tariff or anti-dumping tariff no longer works. Our future belongs to those who are able to solve problems and to collaborate with others from all parts of the world. The sooner we all realize this and free ourselves from the obsolete mode of thinking, the better we will be able to play the game of Building Our Economy and Going Green.
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, photographed, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your comments or suggestions will be welcomed via sunisthefuture@gmail.com“”.
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics: www.sunisthefuture.net
Harmonious & Collaborative Sunshine (photographed by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
The aggresive Chinese NEA in the previous post has inspired me to have a closer look at some of the current Chinese effort toward solar energy. Interestingly, some new development regarding Hanergy Holding getting ready to launch five models of solar-powered cars in October this year got my attention, for I’ve had a history of covering the solar car events since 2011.
Hanergy is a privately held Chinese multinational renewable energy company founded in 1994 by Li Hejun (its current chairman and CEO). Its headquarter is in Beijing. It is active in solar, wind and hydropower generation and is one of the world’s largest thin-film solar power company. Hanergy was ranked No. 23 in the 2014 list of 50 Smartest Companies by MIT Technology Review, noting “the Chinese energy company is snapping up advanced solar technologies at fire-sale prices.”
As the market share of thin film photovoltaic panels is expected to decline each year to 2017, according to one of the NPD Solarbuzz PV Equipment Quarterly report, it is not surprising that Hanergy has been further exploring and expanding into other clean energy territories such as auto sector. Considering the fact that transportation vehicle is one of the main contributing factors for CO2 emission and particulates pollution any where on planet earth, Hanergy Holding is likely to continue to have tremendous impact toward cleaning our earthly environment in the future.
Solar Charging Station (credit: Hanergy)
Hanergy was on the top of Tesla‘s list of collaborators for the first PV Supercharger station in China. Two solar PV charging systems designed and manufactured by Hanergy Solar Group (at Tesla’s request), were showcased in April, 2014, by Tesla. Finally, some body has taken up on Elon Musk’s offer of Tesla’s patents for free! Plans for Tesla’s supercharger network in China will continue to roll out in large cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Tesla’s founder Elon Musk said: “In the future, Tesla will work with partners to build supercharger network. The first charging station in Beijing was built in cooperation with Hanergy Solar Group. Tesla will continue to invest in the construction of superchargers in China, aiming to quickly expand the network.” Elon Musk also noted that large investments will be brought into China for the building of seven Supercharger networks.
The two solar PV charging systems showcased were somewhat different, as indicated in the press release at the time, below (in italics):
The Beijing carport, a mobile carport designed to be assembled and transported, adopts Hanergy’s GSE flexible thin-film solar modules. The Shanghai carport will be a fixed structure, and adopts Hanergy’s MiaSole CIGS high-efficiency modules. The first phase of both carports has been completed.
The PV charging system by Hanergy Solar Group protects vehicles like ordinary carports, while (at the same time) converting sunlight into electricity (via) its solar rooftop. At the same time, the system charges the electric vehicle through its energy storage system. The system uses the CIGS thin-film PV technology, the most advanced in the world. With conversion rates peaking at 20.5%, this technology offers light weight, flexibility, excellent low-light performance and advanced packaging. More importantly, no fixed column is required, which significantly reduces the cost.
Vice President of Hanergy Global Solar Power and Application Group, Ms. Zhang Qingliang, stated: “Hanergy has been actively exploring ways to utilize its thin-film photovoltaic technology to provide solutions through technological innovation and cross industrial integration. We have been working with multiple domestic and foreign automobile manufacturers to integrate solar, and is also researching on energy storage, photovoltaic car roof and other solar-automobile applications.”
As Hanergy continues working with three domestic and two foreign companies on solar powered cars, it will be interesting for us to keep our eyes on what 5-models of solar cars that will be unveiled in October of 2015. With an earthly population of over one billion people, China will provide a huge potential market for future solar cars. The collaboration between Hanergy and Tesla in solar electric cars and supercharging stations will bring forth not only the vehicle of Solar Energy Age, Cleaner Environment, but an important appreciation for multinational collaboration. This is truly the kind of success through Harmonious Collaboration that our planet needs more of on our way toward a brighter, healthier, and better world.
P.S. The English edition of China’s New Energy Revolution by renewable energy advocate and Hanergy Chairman Li Hejun is now available for purchase in bookstores across the U.S. as well as in e-book format.
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, photographed, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your comments or suggestions will be welcomed via sunisthefuture@gmail.com“”.
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics: www.sunisthefuture.net
There will be an upcoming event that will take place in Beijing, China, between March 31, 2015-April 3, 2015. The Intersolar China Exhibition will take place April 1-3, 2015 at the China International Exhibition Center (CIEC) in conjunction with CIPV Expo, the only solar energy event in China directly organized by state-run power producers and grid providers. The concurrent Intersolar China Conference will take place between March 31-April 01, 2015 at the Radisson Blue Hotel in Beijing.
Intersolar China provides a valuable platform for accessing the Chinese solar markets of the future. The exhibition and conference both provide unique insights into the core topics of photovoltaics, PV production technology, energy storage and solar thermal technology.
EXHIBITION QUICK FACTS
Dates
April 1-3, 2015
Hours
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
April 1, 2015
April 2, 2015
April 3, 2015
9:30am-5:00pm
9:00am-5:00pm
9:00am-3:00pm
Venue
China International Exhibition Center (CIEC)
Beijing, No.6, 3rd North Ring Road China
Sun Rays by Powerline (photographed by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
Great News! I just found out that the Chinese National Energy Administration (NEA) presented the ambitious goal of installing 17.8 GW (gigawatts) of solar capacity in 2015 (18.7% higher than the previous 15 GW proposal announced earlier this year). The NEA indicated the need to “stabilize and expand the solar application market,” as the reason for this new goal. China is determined to increase her renewable energy mix in power generation to 20% by 2030 and a target of 100 GW PV power by 2020. This is a fantastic way for President Xi Jinping to wage war against pollution!
Beijing air on two August 2005 days (after rain on left and smoggy day on right) (CC-Attribution: Bobak)
Such aggressive goal results from careful consideration of the inevitable skyrocketing demand for energy from industrialization and urbanization of China. For a country shouldering earthly population of over one billion people (approximately 1,361,512,576 ) and continued economic growth, Chinese leadership’s foresight to increase emphasis for clean energy and share of solar power will not only benefit the Chinese people but also rest of the world.
“This is good news for the industry,” Zhou Ziguang, analyst at Ping An Securities, told Reuters. “The state is hoping to boost solar consumption, although the chance of exceeding the target should not be big.”
Given the inadequate transmission infrastructure exists in many parts of the country, it is wise that the Chinese NEA is also rolling out a target of 8 GW of distributed solar (within this 17.8 GW goal) for 2015. Historically seen in many parts of the world, renewable/solar energy industry growth is strongly correlated to regional policies. So, despite the fact that problems such as financing and rooftop rights may have surfaced, policies such as subsidies and incentives will set the right tone to enhance future solar energy installations and industry growth in China.
Solar Rooftop at Beijing (credit: sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
Beijing with beautiful blue sky-hutung solar rooftop-Distributed Solar (credit: sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
At Sun Is The Future, we strongly encourage Chinese people to consider the concept of micro-finance, crowdfunding, and community solar garden/farm as part of the solution for financing much of the distributed solar installations in China. Many of these concepts are also explained and made available in: various posts in Sun Is The Future , sunisthefuture youtube channel , Sunisthefuture Team at Kiva, and information on Start A Community Solar Garden/Farm.People throughout the planet earth will be encouraging the Chinese people growing toward solar/renewable energy. It is great that the Chinese government has already taken note on implementing the fantastic policy of Feed-In-Tariff in stimulating the renewable/solar energy implementation and growth. We would also recommend consultation with Germany on streamlining the process of balance of system. Further understanding and implementation of Value of Solar will also be helpful.
Since the inception of Sun Is The Future (2011), the earthly solar installations on planet earth has more than doubled!
Sunshine (photographed by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
Such exponential growth is also seen in Chinese solar & renewable installations. If China will be able to continue with such an ardent rate of renewable/solar growth, there is no doubt that China and Beijing will be able to become the cleanest (or one of the cleanest ) country/city on planet earth in thirty years. The wild card here is the battery storage technology. For the sake of all the people in China, as well as all people on planet earth, we wish for the speedy arrival of optimal (higher efficiency/lower cost) battery storage technology.
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, photographed, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your comments or suggestions will be welcomed via sunisthefuture@gmail.com“”.
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics: www.sunisthefuture.net
Historical records have shown that solar eclipses were viewed as omens that brings about death and destructions. Therefore, it is understandable that many ancient civilizations tried to understand and predict this celestial phenomenon. Babylonians and ancient Chinese were able to predict solar eclipses as early as 2500 B.C. The word eclipse comes from ekleipsis, the ancient Greek word for being abandoned. The Chinese legend has it that two astrologers, Hsi and Ho, were executed for failing to predict the solar eclipse of Oct. 22, 2134 B.C.E. (because solar eclipse is associated with the health and success of the Emperor and not predicting one means placing the Emperor in danger). Henceforth, the solar eclipse of Oct. 22, 2134, B.C.E. was the oldest solar eclipse ever recorded in human history. Babylonians, also believing in the omens associated with solar eclipse, would seat substitute kings during solar eclipses so that these temporary kings would face the anger of the Gods instead of the real king. On the other hand, a solar eclipse in 585 B.C.E stopped the war between the Lydians and Medes, who saw the dark skies as a sign to make peace with each other.
As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse is a type of eclipse that occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks (“occults“) the Sun. This can happen only at new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth in an alignment referred to as syzygy. In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. In partial and annular eclipses, only part of the Sun is obscured.
Partial Solar Eclipse of Oct. 23, 2014 (CC -tomruen) Minneapolis 5-36pm_Ruen1
Annular Solar Eclipse (Middlegate,_Nevada, May 20,_2012) (CC-Smrgeog)
Total Solar eclipse 1999 4 NR ( CC-attribution Luc Viatour : www.Lucnix.be)
If the Moon were in a perfectly circular orbit, a little closer to the Earth, and in the same orbital plane, there would be total solar eclipses every single month. However, the Moon’s orbit is inclined(tilted) at more than 5 degrees to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun (see ecliptic), so its shadow at new moon usually misses Earth. Earth’s orbit is called the ecliptic plane as the Moon’s orbit must cross this plane in order for an eclipse (both solar as well as lunar) to occur. In addition, the Moon’s actual orbit is elliptical, often taking it far enough away from Earth that its apparent size is not large enough to block the Sun totally. The orbital planes cross each other at a line of nodes resulting in at least two, and up to five, solar eclipses occurring each year; no more than two of which can be total eclipses. However, total solar eclipses are rare at any particular location because totality exists only along a narrow path on the Earth’s surface traced by the Moon’s shadow or umbra.
Since looking directly at the Sun can lead to permanent eye damage or blindness (unless the UV index is between 0 to 1), special eye protection or indirect viewing techniques are used when viewing a solar eclipse. It is technically safe to view only the total phase of a total solar eclipse with the unaided eye and without protection; however, this is a dangerous practice, as most people are not trained to recognize the phases of an eclipse, which can span over two hours while the total phase can only last up to 7.5 minutes for any one location. People referred to as eclipse chasers or umbraphiles will travel to remote locations to observe or witness predicted central solar eclipses.
There are four types of solar eclipses:
A total eclipse occurs when the dark silhouette of the Moon completely obscures the intensely bright light of the Sun, allowing the much fainter solar corona to be visible. During any one eclipse, totality occurs at best only in a narrow track on the surface of Earth.
An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the dark disk of the Moon.
A hybrid eclipse (also called annular/total eclipse) shifts between a total and annular eclipse. At certain points on the surface of Earth it appears as a total eclipse, whereas at other points it appears as annular. Hybrid eclipses are comparatively rare.
A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in line and the Moon only partially obscures the Sun. This phenomenon can usually be seen from a large part of the Earth outside of the track of an annular or total eclipse. However, some eclipses can only be seen as a partial eclipse, because the umbra passes above the Earth’s polar regions and never intersects the Earth’s surface.Partial eclipses are virtually unnoticeable, as it takes well over 90% coverage to notice any darkening at all. Even at 99% it would be no darker than civil twilight.<http://www.heliodyssey.org/eclipse_facts.html>
The diagrams to the right below shows the alignment of the Sun, Moon and Earth during a solar eclipse.
Geometry of a Total Solar Eclipse
The dark gray region between the Moon and Earth is the umbra, where the Sun is completely obscured by the Moon. The small area where the umbra touches Earth’s surface is where a total eclipse can be seen. The larger light gray area is the penumbra, in which a partial eclipse can be seen. An observer in the antumbra, the area of shadow beyond the umbra, will see an annular eclipse.
(some parts are taken from wikipedia)
Remember not to look directly at the Sun on Solar Eclipse Day, March 20, 2015 between 07:41 UTC and Ends at 11:50 UTC.
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your comments or suggestions will be welcomed via sunisthefuture@gmail.com“”.
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics: www.sunisthefuture.net
A piece of rather distressing, yet not surprising, news (from a Sunday Miami Herald‘s:a story from the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting) recently surfaced, revealing information from former Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) employees. Apparently, according to some former DEP volunteers, officials, and one attorney (former employee of the DEP Office of General Counsel in Tallahassee from 2008 to 2013) were told not to use the terms “climate change“, “sustainability“, or “global warming” in emails, reports, or official communications. This unwritten policy went into effect shortly after Governor Rick Scott took office in 2011. The former attorney, Christopher Byrd, is now in private practice as an environmental lawyer in Orlando and he did not agree with such unwritten policy.
In Orlando Weekly: When questioned by the Center for Investigative Reporting on the ban of these terms, the DEP insisted that it didn’t have a policy on the topic. But as we already know from looking into other areas of Scott’s administration, not keeping records about important communications, decisions and policies is part of how it does business.
In Miami Herlad: In 2014, in response to Gov. Scott’s comment that he “was not a scientist” when asked about his views on climate change, a group of Florida scientists requested to meet with Gov. Scott to explain the science behind the phenomenon. These scientists were given 30 minutes but really only had 20-21 minutes.
What can we do to protect our environment here in Florida? Firstly, we have to be well informed by conscientious government officials. We have to protect those who are willing to speak the truth and be insured of employment. So, this is what I’d propose: gather our previous posts of our sister publication, in Sun Is The Future, For Solar Landfills-More Help With Landfill Closure Requirements in Florida, Landfills+Community Solar=Great Opportunities & Savings, former FL-DEP attorney Christopher Byrd, and interested potential investors to become familiar with the concept and procedures in Start A Community Solar Garden/Farm. My fellow Floridians, there are much investment potentials here in Florida waiting to be discovered. For those of you who do not have huge sum of cash flowing around, you may consider pulling funds from various sources and form your own microfinance groups or ask the world to help you to convert your local landfills into community solar gardens via crowdfunding! Click on the “Loans & Grants For Small Businesses” of Windermere Sun and learn how to raise money from all corners of our planet. Then check with environmental attorney Christopher Byrd (407-502-5182 or 407-929-4628) for specific procedures in developing your community solar gardens/farms from landfills.
The world is so well connected that we need not dwell on the negatives! Our time is too precious to be wasted on the negatives! We need to concentrate our time, energy, and effort toward the solution. In my book, Solar Energy is the ultimate solution that will solve: Energy-Pollution-Slow Down Climate Change-Avoid International Conflicts. What are we waiting for, Floridians, let’s bring back the Sunshine To Our Beloved Sunshine State! Contrary to Governor Scott, we do not choose to wish the problem away by not talking about it, we need to talk about it and work toward the Solar Solution For Sunshine State!
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
