Over 3,000 world leaders in the clean-energy industry who gathered to the Renewable Energy Technology Conference and Exhibition (RETECH 2009), reacted with optimism to President Obama’s $787.2 billion economic stimulus package.  The bill allocates $44 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, including the creation of a SmartGrid for renewable energy transmission, and funding for biomass, biofuels, wind, hydro, geothermal and solar energy projects.  Solar got the biggest boost by getting its production tax credit extended for eight years, thus giving the projects a longer timeline. All this gives much needed boost and hope to the green energy sector, but it’s only a beginning.  

“Incentives are fine, but we need to do it ourselves. Ordinary Americans should be able to invest in green tech,” said General Wesley Clark.

Other senior level speakers and RETECH 2009 attendees at the Las Vegas Convention Center, February 25-27, echoed his words.

“All players are needed to make renewable energy possible: end users, professional services, financial institutions, non-profit organizations, the government, associations, RE industry and educational institutions,“ reminded Michael Eckhart, President of the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) that hosted the conference.

In other words: we are all in this together.

Energy efficiency is the easiest way to go – especially in these bad economic times. It is a cheap and quick solution which buys time to develop new technologies, and make them cost effective. Obama’s stimulus bill rewards different EE programs, research and development (about $50 billion), and gives rebates to consumers ($300 million in state-matching grants) who buy themselves more energy-efficient appliances.

Buildings dominate the U.S. energy use at 39% and generate 43% of  carbon-dioxide (CO2)  emissions. With summer and hot weather around the corner we are also approacing the peak in energy use. Remember last summer’s gas prices?

To save in energy costs Colorado-based Coolerado introduced a green air conditioner that uses up to 90% less energy than conventional systems thus reducing environmental impact. It doesn’t use harmful chemical CFCs or energy draining compressors. With EER (Energy Efficiency Ratio) above 40, Coolerado is the most energy efficient air conditoner ever made. The units use water to cool fresh, outside air with the same latent cooling process that transfers heat to a thunderstorm. Water is evaporated into air in one chamber within the air conditioner, and this cools the air flowing in an adjacent chamber. The cold air is used to cool the building while the water vapor holding the heat is exhausted to the outside to be renewed by the atmosphere. Because the water never comes in contact with air, moisture from the water never enters the building. Coolerado also has a unit that runs on solar power. 

Even though geothermal energy doesn’t get the respect it deserves it is the most technologically advanced renewable energy source available. It has been around for 25-20 years, and there are different applications for residential and commercial use. California is the leader in the U.S. with 48% of state’s renewable energy (12.7%) coming from geothermal sources (shallow ground, under water, rock deep below the earth’s surface).

For residential use heat pumps close to the ground are very popular in Europe, especially in Scandinavia. In Sweden 90% of residential areas get their heating from the ground. Geothermal heat pump systems are most cost-effective for cooling and heating buildings. Heat pumps work like fridges, but are buried in the soil using the earth’s ability to store heat in the ground. Heat pumps can reduce energy costs by 55%. No wonder geothermal is a rapidly expanding area of renewable energy.

“It is still a small industry, and the lack of knowledge is a hindrance as well. But in the U.S. there is a capacity to double (commercial) geothermal energy production in the near future,” explains Tracy McKibben, Marketing Director, Citigroup Global Markets.

For solar, only sky is the limit – for now. According to Solar Energy Industries Association the economic stimulus bill will result in 69,000 new jobs in the sector this year only, and about 110,000 through 2010. That’s a welcome change in the land of rising unemployment numbers. Fast advancement in the solar cell technology is helping to speed up the PV (photo-voltaic) sector in the renewable energy market place. Some of the most interesting new PV applications are Power-Spar/Power Panel by Canadian Menova Energy, and Solar Stik, a portable power generator system. Power-Spar is a two-axis solar concentrator for commercial and infrastructure solutions. It incorporates the latest high efficiency triple junction PV cells which can be upgraded when more efficient PV technology becomes available. The system captures and concentrates the sun’s energy with fresnel parabolic mirrors focusing the sun onto the absorbers which are suspended above the mirror surfaces. The light is concentrated to more than 1000 suns inside the absorber! One motor adjusts the tilt of the mirrors according to the elevation angle of the sun; the second motor rotates the entire array according to the azimuth angle for maximum energy capture.

Power-Spar’s little brother, Power Panel, is made from recycled materials, and it is 80% more efficient than traditional solar panels because of its third generation PV technology (amorphous silicon film on glass). The system provides both electricity and thermal energy at the same time by cooling the PV cells with fluid (like Power-Spar). That allows the cells to operate more efficiently as the temperature in them is reduced.     

Solar Stik is the first company on the market to offer portable, independent solar solution. The company was founded for sailboating industry’s needs, but it has grown to include portable energy for military, emergency, humanitarian, and recreation uses. The system  utilizes only sun and wind for fuel, and it is a great way to power any equipments where the grid doesn’t exist. Constructed of aluminium and stainless steel, Solar Stik and the charge control pak can be thrown on the back of a truck, and taken to generate power in the most demanding environments including arctic cold and desert heat. 

It is easier for developing countries to adapt to renewable energy in general and solar in particular, because in many places there is no power at all. It's a reality for 1.6 billion people in the world. In rural areas, like rainforests and remote villages, solar is the only answer. With portable solar system, the benefits are limitless ranging from distance learning and tele-medicine to agricultural and household applications. That is nothing but exciting news toward greener future, energy independency and self-sustainability.