Grid Electricity - News, Trends, Grid Electricity Links
?50bn investment needed for the proposed supergrid between Africa and Europe to become a reality
Tech advances combined with falling costs have made it realistic to consider north Africa as Europe?s main source of imported energy. ?The sun is very strong there and it?s very reliable. There is starting to be a growing number of cost estimates of both wind and concentrated solar power for North Africa?.that start to compare favourably with alternative technologies. The cost of moving elec long distances has really come down.? But a grid from eu to af will cost $100 billion! - Read More
Tags : africa europe electricity europe
Topics : Food and Drink Finance
Incorporating solar and wind into the AC grid will be inefficient
Incorporating remote wind and solar, on the other hand, will require an upgraded grid, something entirely different. Our present 345-kilovolt, AC transmission wires can?t do it without unacceptable line losses. We will need to rebuild to 765 kV DC system ? something that could take decades and easily cost several trillion dollars. - Read More
Tags : ac dc electricity USA usa electricity
Turning a car into a power plant
Many companies are experimenting with turning a car into a power plant
Tags : cars power plants distributed electricity generation
Topics : Travel
Selling energy back to the grid
Utilities in 30 US states allow people to sell electricity back to the gird (2002 data)
Upgrading the US electricity Grid is a big need
An argument could be made that more critical than any new source of generation is the development and upgrading of the country's electrical transmission and distribution grid. There are about 200,000 miles of power lines in the US. Much of the grid is nearing 50 years of use and is not geographically close to where solar and wind power can be most efficiently generated. - Read More
Tags : electricity electricity usa
Topics : Energy Efficiency
Net metering allows reverse electricity flow
Net metering allows surplus energy from your solar power system to flow back into the grid and you get credit for contributing to the grid
Tags : electricity net metering distributed electricity generation
Topics : Renewable Energy
Power grid infrastructure investments in US
A recent report from the North American Electric Reliability (NERC) said that a lack of investment in the proper transmission infrastructure to accompany the increase of green power will result in an unreliable power grid. The Brattle Group predicts that to build out the power grid, including transmission lines, will need a $2 trillion investment, and Al Gore is calling for an investment of $400 billion over 10 years to build a national smart grid.
Tags : electricity electricity usa energy investments
Topics : Energy Efficiency
GridPoint - load management tech for smart grids
The company Gridpoint hopes to sell load management tech for smart grids - Read More
Tags : gridpoint smart grid energy software
Future electric cars may supply power to grid customers
Scientists at the University of Michigan are probing the possibility of creating plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) that can earn their owners money by transferring electricity to power grids, besides using it for propulsion. If we had lots of PHEVs all plugged into the grid, then what seems like an insignificant amount of energy storage becomes a large energy storage - Read More
Tags : phev cool ideas electricity
Topics : Automobiles
ECA - Easy Connection Act Makes Renewable Energy More Attractive to Individuals
The ECA establishes uniform procedures to connect a small renewable energy system to the electric grid in a quick, safe, and reliable manner. The ECA also establishes "true net metering", which credits an owner of a renewable energy system at a one-to-one rate for electricity "sold" back to the grid. Most basically, the Easy Connection Act makes it easier and more cost effective for a person to install a renewable energy system onto a home or business. - Read More
Tags : electricity easy connection act eca
Topics : Renewable Energy