Off-Grid House in Costa Rica Is Zero Energy

The Casa ISEAMI is located  in the rainforest of Costa Rica, where its humid environment encourages mold and fungi growth on buildings. The architects for ISEAMI - Robles Arquitectos - therefore designed this house using an all-white structure that allows mold and other pests to be revealed immediately. Casa ISEAMI is totally off-grid using an on-site hydropower system plus photovoltaics on the roof - two micro hydro turbines generate 800 kWh per year and a rooftop solar system generates 10,800 kWh annually. The casa utilizes passive solar design with large overhangs for shade and rainwater collection, and its orientation maximizes natural ventilation. Large skylights provide daylighting and an almost direct connection for inhabitants to the sky. A solar thermal system provides hot water. The Casa provides headquarters for Costa Rica-based ISEAMI (Institute for Sustainability, Ecology, Art, Mind and Investigation). The house is situated on a hill above the ocean on the biologically diverse Peninsula de Osa, 30km from the nearest town. The area contains five percent of the world`s biodiversity so it was imperative for the Institute to create a building that has virtually no negative impact on the surrounding environment. Building materials are recyclable at the end of their useful lives.  The casa is the first phase of building houses a multifunctional space for ISEAMI (Institute of Sustainability, Ecology, Art,Mind and Investigation) on the ground level, with the second level providing a residence for the Institute`s director.

Recreation Center in Germany Powers with Solar

The Steinhude Sea Recreation Facility building is only about 3,500 square feet with services for public toilets, lifeguard facilities, a small cafe, an observation deck, boat storage and a generator for supplemental power for the kitchen. Its photovoltaic system provides enough power for the building needs, as well as for recharging a fleet of eight solar-powered rental boats. There's even excess power to sell back to the grid. The PV panels (153 square meters in surface area) are integrated into and stretched along a sweeping roof that also provides daylighting with its innovative glazing system. A natural gas turbine generator provides additional power for peak loads associated with the cafe. The project is located on the south shore of Steinhude Sea in north-central Germany; it is on the 46,000 square meter (11.4 acres) Bath Island, attached by a bridge to the mainland.

Prep School in Hawaii Builds a Renewable Energy Lab for Its Students

Not only is the Energy Lab at Hawaii Preparatory Academy designed and constructed using sustainable principles, it helps students learn how the features work. The building supplies its own energy needs from photovoltaic and windmill sources, using only eight percent of the energy it produces with the rest net-metered to the campus grid. Its rainwater capture system filters and supplies all of the building’s domestic water, and solar thermal panels provide hot water. The building is designed for natural ventilation and uses a natural radiant cooling system instead of mechanical air conditioning. With sensors and monitoring for all systems, students are able to track all building functions - and the building can self-regulate its internal climate.

PV System Fits into a Suitcase

This little portable solar electric system provides power so that remote medical clinics have lighting and the ability to charge walkie-talkies or radios for communication. Developed by We Care Solar, a non-profit organization that facilitates safer childbirth in third world countries, this PV device has been assembled by teenagers in Washington, D.C. to send to Haiti. http://www.wecaresolar.com/node/82

Solar-Powered Yacht Cruises the Seas on Less Diesel

Thanks to its innovative hull design, the WHY solar-powered yacht requires less power at cruising speed than a boat of equal size. Its diesel-electric propulsion is the most efficient motorization today, and the surface of the photovoltaic panels - almost 900 square meters - covers most of the boat’s auxiliary system needs.
Its PV power is estimated to save up to 200 tons of diesel per year. http://www.solaripedia.com/13/200/roof_goes_electric_on_solar_why_yacht.html

Off-Grid and under a Sod Roof at Big Sur

http://www.solaripedia.com/13/178/cooper_point_shelters_off-grid_home_%28california,_usa%29.htmlThe Cooper Point house rises in a gentle ellipse of green, following the natural contours of the site near Big Sur, California. Designed by architect Mickey Muennig, it’s built like a bunker with massive concrete retaining walls at either end and all-glass walls in between. The roof is a continuation of the Big Sur environment, seeded with native grasses and wildflowers and six to eight inches of sod that makes it relatively fireproof, provides insulation and substantial savings in energy for this completely off-grid home.

Poland Embraces CO2 Saver Home

The CO2 Saver House in Lake Laka Poland weathers subzero winter winds and 90-degree summer heat. The home uses a solar water heater above the atrium for hot water that provides 30 to 40 percent in winter and 100 percent in summer. The orientation of the house is specifically designed to expose 80 percent of the structure to light and warmth through the sun’s daily arc. (The total surface area in a conventional building available for solar gain is typically about 65 percent.) The long side of the wedge on the CO2 Saver means there is more surface area to absorb solar energy, plus most of the roof slopes north to south, and all sides of the house have the potential to harvest power.

Largest University Solar Farm Lights Up Florida

Florida Gulf Coast University’s long-awaited solar field has gone live, with the full 2-megawatt system now powering several main buildings on campus. With a 16-acre field of 10,080 panels, the electricity they generate will be enough to power about 600 homes. FGCU is home to the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education.

Open PV Database Tracks US Solar Installations

The Open PV Project is a community-driven database, fostered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, of photovoltaic (PV) installations around the US. It collects, organizes and distributes info on location, size, cost and date of every PV installation in the USA. A very cool animation is superimposed on a US map showing all logged PV systems installed since 1998.

Wineries and Thieves Go Solar in California

Solar energy is hot, according to Mike Treleven reporting in the Napa Valley Register (27 November 2009). Not just with wineries attempting to lessen their carbon footprints — but also with thieves. Numerous Napa Valley wineries have been victimized by thieves lurking in the night and stealing their solar arrays. A single panel is worth about $1,000, measures two feet by three feet and weighs around 35 pounds. Between June 2008 and late September 2009, Napa County saw 14 solar thefts and two attempted thefts. Of the 14 thefts, two were in the city of Napa and the rest were at wineries around the valley, Napa County Sheriff’s Capt. Tracey Stuart. More than 400 panels, worth about $400,000, have been stolen.

Lagniappe House Makes Solar Right in New Orleans

The Lagniappe House in New Orleans was designed with Cradle to Cradle concepts including building orientation for passive and solar energy, selection of materials, management of energy and water, and the features provided to promote passive survivability in the event of another catastrophe.

Solar Balloons Provide Electric Power

Instead of large expensive solar panels or costly concentrating mirrors, Cool Earth uses balloons made of metalized plastic films. Half of the balloon is transparent, letting the light in to be concentrated into a small, high-efficiency solar panel by the concave interior, providing from 500 watts to 1 kilowatt. They are supported by cables, leaving the ground below clear and limiting environmental impact. See Cool Earth website