SolarCity Provides Solar-Powered Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Homeowners and businesses can install electric vehicle charging for as little as $1,500 with solar; Now more Americans than ever will be able to “drive on sunshine”, by charging their electric cars with solar power, and save up to 77 percent on fuel costs. SolarCity has partnered with industry pioneer ClipperCreek to provide electric vehicle (EV) chargers compatible with all new EVs. SolarCity will initially install ClipperCreek EV chargers through its 24 operations centers nationwide, making it the largest single provider of EV, solar and energy efficiency services in the U.S.

“SolarCity’s mission has always been to help homeowners and businesses adopt clean power while saving on energy costs,” said Lyndon Rive, CEO of SolarCity. “Electric cars are already among the cleanest-running vehicles on the road—charging them on solar makes them that much better. Tens of thousands of electric cars will be delivered over the next year alone, with hundreds of thousands expected over the next five years. We’re making it easier to power them with carbon-free electricity for zero emissions, and to dramatically reduce the cost of driving.”

Pricing for home or business installation of a ClipperCreek 240-volt Level II EV charger, including the charger, starts at $1,500. Charging at Level II is roughly five times faster than using a 120-volt wall outlet. For its solar and energy-efficiency customers, as well as those who wish to install EV chargers only, SolarCity can prepare a home or business to be EV ready even before delivery of an electric car.

Powering an EV with electricity generated from a home solar system can be 77 percent less expensive than powering a car with gas. An average San Francisco Bay Area resident paying the national average of $3.65 per gallon gas spends about $230 per month to fuel her gas-powered car. She’d pay $107 to power an equivalent-size EV with grid electricity, and, by leasing a solar system from SolarCity, only $54 to power the car with solar electricity for the same miles driven.

ClipperCreek pioneered EV charger safety features in the mid-1990s that have become the industry standard. Its UL-listed chargers are designed for use with the Chevy Volt, Ford Transit Connect, Nissan Leaf, Tesla Roadster and all SAE-compatible plug-In vehicles that are soon to be released from major and most new car companies.

“We are pleased to partner with SolarCity to help increase the number of homes and businesses that can run electric cars on renewable energy,” said Dave Packard, President of ClipperCreek, Inc. “Roughly 40 percent of residential EV owners have solar and we expect these environmental and economic benefits to expand with the coming proliferation of electric cars and increasing use of solar power.”

SolarCity installed the world’s first solar-powered enhanced electric car charging corridor, between Los Angeles and San Francisco, in 2009. The EV chargers, located at Rabobank branches along highway 101, support the new industry-standard J1772 protocol common to newer EVs.

SolarCity is also the North American distributor of EV chargers for Toyota Tsusho, which represents a public EV infrastructure of thousands of chargers.
http://www.solarcity.com/
http://www.clippercreek.com/

Canada: funding for clean transportation projects

Calgary, Alberta – Eighteen clean technology projects will receive $40 million in funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), including hybrid technologies for transportation. The funding is intended to help move innovative technology solutions to market.

"SDTC and the Government of Canada are providing industry the tools they need to become more productive, competitive and efficient," said Juergen Puetter, chairman of SDTC. "When these companies bring their technologies to businesses and consumers, they create jobs, provide Canada a technological edge and contribute to improving the quality of Canada's air, water and soil."

The new investments bring SDTC's total portfolio value to over $1.6 billion. The SDTC is an arm's-length foundation created by the government of Canada, and includes the $550 million SD Tech Fund for projects that address climate change, air quality, clean water and clean soil, and the $500 million NextGen Biofuels Fund, which supports the establishment of first-of-kind large demonstration-scale facilities for the production of next-generation renewable fuels.

The projects include an advanced battery system for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) by Electrovaya Corporation of Mississauga, Ontario, which will be tested in a fleet of Ram 1500 PHEV trucks; a hybrid auxiliary power unit for tractor-trailers by EnerMotion Inc. of Caledon, Ontario; and a cathode material for lithium-ion batteries by Phostech Lithium Inc. of Candiac, Quebec.

Http://www.sdtc.ca

Solar Charging Stations for Electric Vehicle - SolarCity & Rabobank

SolarCity® and Rabobank, N.A., announced a partnership to create the world’s first solar-power enhanced, fast-charge electric car charging corridor. When complete, the corridor will include four locations between San Francisco and Los Angeles (Salinas, Atascadero, Santa Maria and Goleta), allowing all-electric cars to make the trip using solar energy and provide for the fastest charge time available for public electric vehicle (EV) charges. The SolarCity owned and operated corridor, built in cooperation with electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors, will provide a full charge in one-third the amount of time of other charging stations.

San Francisco and Los Angeles each support local infrastructure for EVs and many enterprising EV owners have successfully completed ambitious road trips throughout California and cross-country. Allowing drivers to plug in and charge up at multiple locations along well traveled corridors will dramatically increase the convenience and practicality of the growing number of EVs on American roads. Rabobank branches are positioned all along the high-traffic Highway 101 corridor, close to shops, restaurants and other commercial centers in Northern and Southern California, making them ideal locations for charging stations.

“This charging station corridor demonstrates an important component of SolarCity’s vision for a carbon-free lifestyle. We’re combining clean, renewable solar power with all-electric transportation, allowing drivers to travel through California with zero emissions,” said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive. SolarCity has installed more than 100 solar home-charging stations for Tesla owners. The company has also assumed responsibility for a distribution contract for electric vehicle chargers for Toyota Tsusho as part its acquisition of SolSource Energy, announced last week.

Rabobank, N.A., is a California community bank that provides personalized service and a full array of quality products to individuals, businesses and agricultural clients. The bank has completed a 30 kilowatt solar installation at its South Broadway branch in Santa Maria and is evaluating installing solar at additional locations. In addition to providing renewable energy to charge electric cars, the systems will offset electricity used by the locations. As part of the Rabobank Group, a global leader in sustainability-oriented banking, Rabobank, N.A., will offer local California customers and local shoppers convenient charging stations with clean, renewable energy.

“We hope that this corridor of charging stations provides new travel opportunities for electric vehicle owners and gives further momentum to the renewable energy movement,” said Marco Krapels, co-chair of the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility committee.

The corridor would be the first interregional effort of its kind and would be the first to include solar power at a charging station. California is the first state in the United States to be aggressive about EV transportation. The Bay Area is home of Tesla Motors, makers of electric sports cars, among other EV manufacturers. State and local governments, electric utilities, the federal government and other entities are working together to support this infrastructure. Rabobank and SolarCity are taking the EV movement one step further by charging electric vehicles with power from the sun.

Tom Dowling, electric vehicle charging infrastructure manager for the Electric Auto Association, is experienced with installing, tracking and maintaining EV charging stations. “These bank branches are what I call enabler locations because they allow EV drivers to take longer trips and thereby use the EV as their primary car,” says Dowling. “Solar-powered charging stations mean true zero-emission driving, from well to wheels.”

For more information about charging stations and electric cars:

www.solarcity.com/residential/electric-vehicle-charging-stations.aspx

First Algae-powered Prius on Tour

Algaeus is the world’s first plug-in hybrid vehicle to cross the country on fuel containing a blend of algae-based renewable gasoline.

Green Fuel is real fuel as the Algaeus, the world’s first plug-in hybrid vehicle to cross the country on fuel containing a blend of algae-based renewable gasoline, hits the road to celebrate the launch of the award-winning film FUEL. Sponsored by the Veggie Van Organization, the eco-aggressive, 10-day cross country tour features a caravan of high technology ‘green’ vehicles, led by the groundbreaking Algaeus, which is fueled by Sapphire Energy. The tour kicks off on September 8 in San Francisco and culminates in New York City on September 18 to celebrate the nationwide premiere of FUEL, the movie that inspires green energy solutions such as those demonstrated on the tour.

The tour will kick off in San Francisco on September 8th en route to New York City. The stops along the tour will include Sacramento (Sept. 9th), Salt Lake City (Sept. 10th), Cheyenne, WY (Sept. 11th), Lincoln, NE (Sept. 12th), Chicago, IL (Sept. 13th), Detroit, MI (Sept. 14th), Cleveland, OH (Sept. 15th), Erie, PA (Sept. 16th), Washington DC (Sept. 17th) and NYC (Sept. 18th).

About the “Algaeus”:
Veggie Van Organization has partnered with Sapphire Energy, the leader in algae-based fuel production, to introduce the world to the Algaeus. This is the first street-ready and legal car to cross the country using a blend of algae-based gasoline. This vehicle is based on a 2008 Toyota Prius that has been given an added battery pack, a plug and an advanced energy management system. The PHEV (plug in electric hybrid) gets 150 miles per gallon. Additionally, this gasoline blend is a complete drop-in replacement to fossil gasoline. The engine of the Algaeus has not been modified.

Sapphire Energy is providing the fuel that is a complete drop-in replacement containing a mixture of hydrocarbons refined directly from algae-based Green Crude, extracted through Sapphire’s proprietary process, and fossil fuels to afford a high octane gasoline. “At Sapphire Energy, we recognize that the world needs a new generation of transportation fuels that are low carbon, produced domestically and can spur economic growth,” says Jason Pyle,

CEO of Sapphire Energy. “Through our partnership with the Veggie Van Organization and FUEL producers to test drive the Algaeus, we’re one step closer to proving algae is that answer.”

Too Big To Fail? Too Big, Period.

Cross-posted from the Breakthrough Institute and WattHead - Energy News and Commentary

The executives of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler made yet another trek to Washington DC this week - this time ditching the corporate jets to drive hybrid cars - and once again pled for a federal bailout to prop up their struggling companies. Up to $34 billion taxpayer dollars are apparently all that stands between at least two of the "Big Three" automakers and bankruptcy.

GM's executives told Congress the company will fail very, very soon unless it receives at least $12 billion in loans in the coming months. Chrysler warned they could go belly up by year's end without $7 billion in government aid. Even Ford, which is doing a bit better than its two Detroit brethren, is asking for an open, taxpayer-funded line of credit of up to $9 billion dollars.

All this means its time for Congress and the American public to face two basic facts.

First, GM and Chrysler are essentially bankrupt already, and Ford may not be far behind. The insular management of the Big Three has already run their companies into the ground, and if a massive government loan is the only thing that will keep them afloat, we might as well consider them failed companies, for all intents and purposes. So let's start treating them that way. With the economy in recession already, we certainly need to ensure a soft landing - rather than a hard collapse - for the auto companies and the millions of Americans who depend on them for their paychecks. But the objective of the bailout should be to preserve American auto industry jobs, not to preserve the Big Three companies themselves. GM, Chrysler, and perhaps even Ford are done. We shouldn't be afraid to turn the page on this chapter of the American auto industry and usher in something entirely new - and better.

Second, if GM, Chrysler and Ford are too big to fail, then it's time to realize that they are simply too big, period. If taxpayers are going to put their money on the line to bailout Detroit, we should be taking advantage of this opportunity to make fundamental changes to the American auto industry. It is time to say, "Never again!" to auto companies that are so large that they can hold taxpayer's hostage because the consequence of their failure is too great - companies that are so large that competition and innovation are stifled by their vast and unwieldy bulk.

Here's what we propose: offer government loans to the Big Three to ensure the companies don't collapse now during the midst of recession. But the conditions of those loans should be similar to the conditions of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy the companies would enter in absence of the loans. No blank checks for the Big Three to continue business as usual.

Instead, Congress will appoint an independent blue ribbon commission. They'll staff that commission with the best bankruptcy judges, restructuring consultants, and industry experts in the world. This commission will be charged with breaking the company up into several smaller companies that will inherit the different divisions, car models and assets of the parent. The commission will then seek new management to run each new company, deploying head hunters to recruit top talent from mid-level management within the Big Three, or even in the ranks of foreign companies like Toyota, Volkswagen or Hyundai.

The new companies - Baby GMs, or Baby Chryslers - will then be turned back over to the private sector and they'll be encouraged to issue new common stock to raise more operating capital. The government will have to vigorously enforce anti-trust laws to ensure these companies remain small, at least for the time being, and to keep foreign automakers or governments from gobbling them up (the Chinese government has already been shopping for one of the Big Three, and would gladly snatch up the new companies if we let them).

In the end, we'll have a new kind of American auto company - leaner and nimbler, and under a new class of managers - and a new kind of America auto industry - one that's more competitive and fosters the continual innovation that's been absent in Detroit for too long.

In the short run, we'll protect as many automaker jobs as possible by injecting capital into these new companies to help them weather the transition period. In the long run, some of these new companies will fail, but when they do, they won't be large enough to send the entire economy into tailspin. And for every company that fails, others will succeed by adopting a corporate culture that embraces innovation and produces high-quality cars that match the American consumer's demands.

The net result will be a vibrant and innovative American auto industry that sustains good manufacturing jobs here in the United States. The new competitive environment will foster the adoption of more efficient vehicle designs, encourage the development of cutting-edge technologies like plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and create space for up-and-comers like Silicon Valley-based electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors to enter the field.

That's the future of the American auto industry. Anything short of this kind of dramatic restructuring of the industry will merely prolong the inevitable day when GM, Chrysler and Ford fall under their own weight, taking American jobs, taxpayer dollars and our economy with them. Too big to fail? Too big, period.

[Image source: FoxNews.com]

Green Drivers Spot Clean Fuels with Earthcomber

What's the biggest challenge for anyone using alternative fuels? Obviously, where to fill it up! Here's a new service to help drivers who are going green, go the distance.
Earthcomber, a wireless mobile information network, recently launched a free scanning service so travelers can spot alternative fuel at nearly 4,000 locations across the US.

This means that anyone using a mobile phone, PDA, Blackberry, or iPhone can quickly determine at any point on their journey where the closest location is to get refueled.

The list includes the following:

• BioDiesel
• E85 (Ethanol)
• LPG (liquified petroleum gas)
• CNG (compressed natural gas)
• Hydrogen
• Electric (hookups to recharge electric cars and hybrids)

How to get it: go to http://mobile/earthcomber/com

Earthcomber works with regular computers, BlackBerrys, web-enabled cell phones, iPhones, Palm and Windows Mobile devices.

The alternative fuels are listed under the “Transport” menu.

Earthcomber currently is popular with travelers for finding ATMs, restaurants, local events, churches, shopping, amusements and more. It also is a platform that users share to find special interest locations ranging from Frank Lloyd Wright buildings to movie locations to ghost towns.

Because Earthcomber spots events and personal interests, it can be an easy navigation tool for eco-conscious individuals. It works with or without GPS, allowing people to set their location with an easy on-screen menu.

Utility studies energy storage in car batteries

PG&E is considering a plan that would let fleets of electric vehicles use their excess power to recharge the grid during periods of peak demand.

SAN FRANCISCO — California's biggest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., is considering a plan to charge fleets of battery-powered cars overnight with wind energy and let consumers sell back some of the stored electricity during the day.

In addition to reducing oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from standard cars, the plan could help stoke production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and give power managers more energy capacity on the grid for hot summer afternoons, speakers said at a "clean technology" investment conference in San Francisco this week.

The utility, a subsidiary of PG&E Corp., "could recharge car batteries through electric outlets during the off-peak overnight hours and recharge the grid from the batteries during critical peak demand periods," said Hal LaFlash, its director of energy policy and planning.

More than 20 states have adopted measures that order electric utilities to add more renewable, cleaner energies such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass to their energy supplies.

In California, wind power is the biggest renewable energy source, providing more than 2,500 megawatts of electricity. About 4,600 megawatts of wind-generated electricity are projected to be added to meet the state's goal for renewable supplies, LaFlash said.

Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy also is studying so-called smart-grid technologies and the idea of recharging hybrid electric vehicles and feeding excess power back to the grid.

A six-month study in Colorado found that electric cars may reduce the overall cost of owning a car and with new grid technology may cut harmful vehicle emissions by as much as 50%.

More studies will include plug-in electric vehicle field tests and will examine management of battery charging along with the availability of renewable energy, Xcel said.

However, the technology to allow car batteries to feed electricity back to the power grid is probably at least five to six years away, Felix Kramer, founder of CalCars, said at the conference.

CalCars is a nonprofit group that has built about 20 plug-in vehicles since 2004 by outfitting the Toyota Prius hybrid with new lithium-ion batteries.

Improving battery technologies to boost energy density at lower weight and cost is a hurdle, but progress on lithium-ion battery packs could help develop a bigger market for plug-in cars, Kramer said.

Drivers also may have to downsize their vehicle choices. Some electric cars are likely to be small and aimed at urban dwellers who do most of their motoring in or near cities.

Jan-Olaf Willums, chairman of Norway's TH!NK Electric Car Co., is betting that he will find a market in Europe and the United States for his two-seater city car. The company previously had ties to Ford Motor Co.

The Norwegian company raised $25 million in February and aims to double the funding amount by May, Willums said. It expects to begin production in Norway in September, with marketing focused first in Europe and then the U.S.

PG&E's LaFlash said smart-grid technologies such as high-tech meters that measure electricity use via remote control and give customers timing and pricing options could help drivers charge their car batteries at home and also get a credit on their bills for putting excess electricity back on the grid.

Utilities and grid managers would limit the amount of energy uploaded from car batteries, LaFlash said. Metering and billing systems would be equipped to match a car to an account.