alternative energy
NRG previews new Solar Canopy
May 1, 2013: 9:00 AM ETAt Fortune's Brainstorm Green conference, NRG Energy CEO David Crane unveiled a new product that provides shade and solar energy -- and it doesn't rely on rooftop panels or the electricity grid.
By Brian O'Keefe, assistant managing editor
NRG's David Crane
FORTUNE -- If all goes according to plan for NRG Energy, solar power will soon be the hot new thing in shade.
At Fortune's Brainstorm Green conference this week, the power generation and utility company previewed an innovative new product that it is calling the Solar Canopy -- essentially a gazebo with solar panels on top.
NRG Energy (NRG) CEO David Crane says that the company will begin selling the Solar Canopy by the end of the year in four sizes: large and small models for both residential and commercial use. Pricing has yet to be finalized.
"This isn't the product launch yet," says Crane. "This is to get people thinking about the fact that there are options beyond rooftop solar."
Crane says the canopies will come in five different types of finishes -- the better to fit in with the design aesthetic of your patio or pool.
Conference attendees who wandered into the courtyard of the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel, Calif., the site of Brainstorm Green, were able to take a break from the bright southern California sun by sitting under a basic demonstration model of the residential "mini" canopy that is 14 feet by 15 feet, and 10 feet tall, with eight solar panels on top.
The mini is expected to generate 2.4 kilowatts of energy, or enough to offset about one-third of total energy usage for the average house. The large commercial model -- which could, for instance, be set up outside a convenience store -- will generate almost three times as much power.
The canopy units will supplement the power that customers' homes get from the grid, and can be set up to operate as replacement power in individual homes if a storm or other event knocks out electricity.
Indeed, the inspiration for the Solar Canopy came last fall, says Crane, when Hurricane Sandy left thousands of households in New Jersey without electricity for an extended period, including many of the roughly 18,000 who have installed solar panels on their roofs. The standard setup for residential panels doesn't allow them to be used until the grid is repaired and operational.
"We said, 'We need solar, we need it distributed, and we need it to be wired so that it will work even when the grid is down,'" says Crane. "We want to give people some grid autonomy."
NRG's solar canopies will be installed so that, under normal circumstances, the power generated by the panels will be fed into your home or business. If all your needs are met, the system will then try to sell power back to the grid. If the grid goes down, an inverter will keep, say, your refrigerator on using power generated from both the solar panels and stored in batteries.
The Solar Canopy units will be manufactured by Sunora Energy Solutions, a company in Phoenix that is 50%-owned by NRG.
Crane believes that the ability to build prefabricated canopies on a large-scale could allow him to drive the cost down over time to his goal of $1.50 per watt.
That would be good news for both NRG and its customers. And the shade on a sunny day will just be a bonus.
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In Abu Dhabi's energy oasis, setbacks and progress
Masdar, the government's high-concept, energy-efficient desert city, is becoming more than an architect's dream.
By Brian Dumaine, senior editor-at-large
FORTUNE -- The last time we visited Masdar -- the green city being built in the desert sands of Abu Dhabi -- the project wasn't much more than an architect's scheme. Fast-forward and what you'll find is an operating university, the Masdar Institute, and nearby the energy-saving Middle East headquarters tower of Siemens, plus MORE
Apr 29, 2013 6:47 AM ET -
The fuel that could be the end of Ethanol
Ethanol could be on its way out this decade thanks to a discovery that makes butanol more cost-effective.
By Jennifer Abbasi
FORTUNE -- In 2007 we reported on biobutanol, a biofuel with the potential to solve many of the problems associated with ethanol. Since then, industry players like BP have been seeking ways to make a cost-efficient transition to the "advanced biofuel," and now a scientific breakthrough might finally make that MORE
Apr 12, 2013 7:25 AM ET -
Moving beyond coal. Maybe
What are the keys to leveraging alternative sources of energy and moving beyond coal?
By David Whitford, editor-at-large
Bill Weihl, Google's (GOOG) energy czar, suggests two new ideas: Encourage new technology through investments in R&D; and "generate market pull" with consumer incentives plus government procurement mandates. Can we get to low emissions without nuclear? "Probably," says Weihl, "but I hate to take it off the table."
Mike Morris, CEO of American Electric (AEP), one MORE
Apr 5, 2011 3:47 PM ET -
The premature clean-tech IPO boom
Early-stage green technology companies are taking a page from the biotech playbook: IPO with little or no revenues. So far, it's not working.
A number of tiny, ambitious companies in a promising industry with a very small market are lining up to tap the public markets. It may sound like the biotech IPO boom of the 1990s, but this time it's firms in the clean tech industry filing S-1s faster than MORE
Shelley DuBois, writer-reporter - Aug 17, 2010 3:00 AM ET -
Bloom box debut: More IPO than CO2
The long-awaited unveiling may have another goal in mind: to fuel investors' appetite for a public offering.
By Paul Keegan, contributor
It was an awesome spectacle as product launches go: Speeches by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Colin Powell, a panel of top executives from Google, eBay, Wal-Mart, FedEx, Coca-Cola, and Cox Enterprises, video messages from Diane Feinstein and Michael Bloomberg, a heart-tugging slide show about saving the planet, and finally, after eight years MORE
Feb 25, 2010 12:10 PM ET -
Bloom Box: Segway or savior?
Three critical questions Bloom Energy must answer to succeed.
By Paul Keegan, contributor
Now that Bloom Energy has come out of hiding on Fortune.com last Friday and on a recent episode of CBS's "60 Minutes," you'd think we'd all be able to start celebrating the invention of K.R. Sridhar's magic black fuel-cell box. The CEO claims it can provide abundant, cheap, clean electricity that will finally rid us of our dependence on MORE
Feb 23, 2010 10:50 AM ET -
Is K.R. Sridhar's 'magic box' ready for prime time?
The Bloom Energy CEO is finally unveiling his entry in the fuel-cell arena after years of playing it close to the vest.
By Paul Keegan, contributor
K.R. Sridhar looks nervous. The CEO of Bloom Energy, the much-hyped fuel cell start-up, sits in a conference room preparing to show off his magical "Bloom Box" for the first time in public. The 49-year-old scientist-turned entrepreneur has raised $400 million in venture capital for his MORE
Feb 19, 2010 4:33 PM ET -
Kilowatts via kites [video]
Mason Cohn, Producer - Oct 30, 2009 4:18 PM ETPosted in: alternative energy, boat, Google, kite, kite boat, kite power, makani, makani power, wind power, wind turbine
