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1. Nanosolar: We Could Make Solar Tubes, If We Wanted To
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2. How Hot Are Hybrids Globally?
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3. GE to Sell Energy-Efficient Bulbs in Disguise
Nanosolar: We Could Make Solar Tubes, If We Wanted To
Katie Fehrenbacher - Energy
The CEO of Nanosolar, Martin Roscheisen, wants to tell everyone that his thin film solar startup can make tube-shaped solar panels similar to a certain other thin film startup — which he doesn’t name, but is pretty clearly Solyndra — but that he doesn’t see the business model in the tubular approach. Roscheisen writes in a very long blog post this evening that Nanosolar has looked into, and prototyped, solar tubes for rooftops but that they have decided that solar tubes “are worse on most if not all metrics” compared to flat solar panels.
No one can accuse Roscheisen of not speaking his mind or ever writing an unsensational blog post. Roscheisen even includes a picture of Nanosolar’s prototype solar tubes, which he tells us in an email can be made at “less than a third of the cost achievable by a competitor.” Oh you know, just a random competitor, no one specific.
The blog post is so detailed you should probably read all the arguments against why he thinks solar tubes are not a good way to go. And perhaps there are some valid arguments in there that could help put a more critical lens on the solar tube approach. We’ll leave you with our favorite quote:
Because based on the capability we have at Nanosolar to make a direct, apples-to-apples comparison between a tubular and a standard flat panel package (by either rolling our flexible cells or packaging them flat), we find that tubular panels are worse on most if not all metrics.
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How Hot Are Hybrids Globally?
Josie Garthwaite - Automotive
In 2008, worldwide interest in hybrid cars began to spike at the beginning of the summer, just as gas prices began to skyrocket. At least that’s when Google’s year-end Zeitgeist, released (and covered on GigaOM) today, shows a jump in searches for the term. Surely that’s just in the U.S., where “good weather and vacations” (according to the Energy Information Administration) cause demand to average about 5 percent higher in the summer, right? Funny you should ask. We did — and found that while U.S. Googlers have the strongest interest in hybrid cars, hybrid searchers from Malaysia, Canada, and Singapore are not far behind. From there, regional search volume drops off precipitously.
To be sure, Google presents an imperfect science for judging demand for hybrid-electric vehicles. In Malaysia, for example, Honda has made a big push for its hybrid-electrics there, but made hardly a dent in a market where some local manufacturers use “hybrid car” to describe dual-fuel-option (natural gas or gasoline) vehicles, according to CNET Asia. Still, the top 10, which is ranked according to Google’s search volume index, offers a glimpse of relative interest in the technology. The numbers represent the likelihood of users in each country searching for “hybrid car,” on a scale of 0-100. Google divides the total number of searches for each country by the number of searches for this particular term, and then normalizes the data based on the country’s traffic volume.
- United States: 100
- Malaysia: 66
- Canada: 60
- Singapore: 56
- Australia: 45
- New Zealand: 42
- South Korea: 35
- India: 30
- Hong Kong: 23
- United Kingdom: 22
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GE to Sell Energy-Efficient Bulbs in Disguise
Katie Fehrenbacher - Energy
That’s just what GE plans to do. The company is expected to announce tomorrow that it will start selling a CFL bulb — the GE Energy Smart CFL bulb — which is shaped like an incandescent; the company has basically shrunk and scrunched the twisty CFL shape right into the rounded glass bulb form factor. Developed by engineers in the GE’s consumer and industrial division, the bulb will go on sale at Target on Dec. 28th, at Ace Hardware in January, and at other outlets like Sam's Club and Wal-Mart sometime in April, in time for Earth Day. It’s GE, so they already have a massive retailer partnership footprint.
The idea to make CLFs, and even the more efficient LEDs, look like regular bulbs isn’t new. Philips has more bulby-looking CFLs. Silicon Valley startup SuperBulbs is trying to tackle more difficult task of making an LED look like a regular bulb.
But GE calls their smart bulb the “first truly incandescent-shaped” CFL bulb, and the company says it has more than a dozen U.S. patent applications to protect the design. The bulb does look more like a traditional bulb than, say, the Philips rounded CFL. GE spokesperson David Schuellerman explains the difference as:
Over the past several years, lots of manufacturers, including GE, have sold “A-shaped” CFLs that feature a plastic ballast housing. The one we’re announcing this week is the world’s first truly incandescent-shaped CFL. It mirrors the shape and size of a traditional incandescent light bulb. There’s no plastic ballast housing. It’s all glass.
But perhaps getting the exact bulb shape perfect isn’t key to cracking this market. The twisty form of the regular CFL has come to signify a greener consumer choice. It could be that, like the Prius, a more alternative design could also drive sales.
The more important factor will be the cost. And GE’s product is priced pretty well — in an estimated range of $5.99 to $7.99, depending on the retailer — particularly if any kind of programs were implemented to bring down the cost even more (like the PG&E CFL program). A $6 energy efficient bulb is not a bad deal, given it’s guaranteed for five years (based on four hours of daily use). GE’s current smart bulb version is 15-watt, but the company will eventually start selling 9-watt, 20-watt, 40-watt, 75-watt and 100-watt versions. If you’re interested in the seeing a close-up of the smart bulb design, check out the video.
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