Solar Arrays Do Double Duty

A pilot plant at a winery not only generates electricity, it heats the water.

A startup called Cogenra Solar recently installed a bank of solar arrays with a difference at a Northern California winery. The arrays combine conventional photovoltaic solar cells with a system for collecting waste heat. This produces electricity for lighting and bottling equipment, and it heats water that can be used for washing tanks and barrels.

Cogenra plans to install these "hybrid" solar arrays at businesses that use large quantities of electricity and water, and then charge them for supplying both. The company has not released an estimate for the cost per watt of its electricity, but it says that the cost of heated water will be considerably less than the norm.

At the winery, owned by Sonoma Wine Company, several parabolic dishes, each 10 meters long and three meters wide and lined with mirrors, concentrate sunlight onto two strips of monocrystalline-silicon solar cells suspended above. The parabolic dishes sit on top of mechanical arms that move them to follow the sun. Heat is collected with a mixture of glycol and water that flows through an aluminum pipe behind the solar cells. The glycol solution is fed into a heat exchanger, where it heats up water. The water is then pumped to a storage tank, and the cooled glycol solution is fed back to the solar arrays.

Similar hybrid solar systems have failed in the past because the solar cells have overheated. Cogenra uses sensors to monitor the temperature of its solar cells and an automated control system to draw fluid away more quickly if they need cooling down.

Overheating impairs the performance of a solar cell and is a big problem for hybrid solar systems, says Tim Merrigan, a senior program manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. Merrigan notes that more sophisticated equipment for monitoring the buildup of heat and adjusting the flow of liquid away from the cells can help prevent this, but "it is certainly not an easy thing to do correctly." With Cogenra's technology, there is also a trade-off between the amount of heat that can be produced and the efficiency of the solar cells.

The winery installation will serve as an important test bed for Cogenra's technology and for hybrid solar technology in general. The system will generate data showing how efficiently it can produce electricity and heated water under different weather conditions and how well it can meet the fluctuating needs of the winery's operation.

The solar arrays will be able to produce 50 kilowatts of electricity, and the equivalent of 222 kilowatts of thermal energy. Gilad Almogy, the CEO of Cogenra, says this will cut the winery's use of natural gas for water heating by 45 to 50 percent and meet about 10 percent of its electricity needs.

Making the technology cost effective will be another challenge for Cogenra. But a growing number of government programs that dole out rebates for installing solar water heaters could help. One such program was launched in California in October. Lasting through 2017, it will provide $350.8 million in rebates for installing solar water heaters. Most water heaters in the state currently run on natural gas.

Vinod Khosla, whose venture capital company Khosla Ventures has invested $10.5 million in the project, says the technology is remarkably cost-effective. "Other solar companies used hundreds of millions of dollars to go to market," he says.

Turbines Could Tap the Mississippi's Power

Tens of thousands of turbines anchored to the bottom of the Mississippi River could someday provide more than a gigawatt of renewable energy, enough to power a quarter of a million homes. That's the vision of Free Flow Power, a startup based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, that recently received preliminary permits from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granting it the right to explore energy production at dozens of sites along the lower Mississippi over the next three years.

The proposed development is one of a number of "hydrokinetic" projects in the works. Such projects seek to generate electricity from wave movement, tidal flows, or river currents, without the use of dams.

The ambitious Mississippi project, however, relies on relatively unproven technology. The only commercial hydrokinetic river-power system operating in the U.S. is a single turbine deployed by Hydro Green Energy close to a conventional hydropower dam on the Mississippi River in Hastings, Minnesota.

Free Flow hopes to deploy hydrokinetic power on an unprecedented scale: hundreds of 40-kilowatt turbines, each the size and shape of a large jet engine and attached to pylons jutting out from the riverbed at 88 locations along the Mississippi.

Although most companies developing hydrokinetic technology have focused on tidal or wave energy, Free Flow's chief financial officer, Henry Dormitzer, argues that river power has distinct advantages. "The water flows in one direction, it doesn't have salt in it, and, in the case of the Mississippi, people have spent 100 years tracking water flows and velocities," he says.

But the Mississippi is also one of the world's busiest waterways, and the company will have to demonstrate that its turbines will not interfere with commercial shipping, and that it will have no negative impact on the river's wildlife.

In July 2009, Free Flow began a six-month test of a pilot turbine (a third the size of the planned commercial ones) in the Mississippi, and the company is now testing a commercial-scale prototype in the lab. Free Flow has also received $7.4 million in funding from investors and from the U.S. Department of Energy that will allow it to test its most recent prototype in the Mississippi next year. Free Flow Power is seeking additional funding to test four turbines, each attached to a separate pylon, over a 12-month period, as required by FERC as part of the licensing process.

Free Flow uses a "shrouded turbine" design that channels water through the turbine's blades. Water passes through a rotor with seven blades that are designed for a slow spin rate to minimize fish strikes. The turbines will be sited 10 or more feet off the riverbed. At this depth, water moves, on average, at one to three meters per second.

A 2007 study by the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, California, predicted that the U.S. could develop three gigawatts of hydrokinetic power from rivers by 2025. That's the equivalent of roughly two new nuclear power plants. "There is no question the potential for hydrokinetic river power is huge, but this industry is so young, it's very hard to say how economically viable it will be," says Andrea Copping, a senior program manager at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Sequim, Washington.

Copping says hydrokinetic power needs a strong commitment from commercial and government interests if it's to take off. "Unless there are public funds to help get this industry off the ground, we are not going to have an industry," she says. "Right now the early developers are being hit with really expensive studies, because the FERC doesn't know what the problems are, so they want the individual companies to look at all potential problems."

Michael Bahleda, an energy consultant with U.K.-based Halcrow Group, says securing the funding needed to carry out the necessary studies may prove difficult. "Until you get through the licensing process, investors aren't going to commit a lot of money," he says. "As it stands now, the permitting and licensing is very time-consuming. It's hard to attract capital until you are further along in that process."

Bahleda also questions whether some of the chosen sites along the Mississippi will prove viable, either because of insufficient water-flow rates or because of regulatory issues related to shipping and the environment.

The biggest environmental challenge will be preventing direct strikes to fish and other organisms. Even if individual turbines cause only a small number of strikes, the sheer size of Free Flow's proposed project raises significant concerns, says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Joyce Collins, who is working with Free Flow to study strike issues. Collins says the company will have to pay particular attention to an endangered species that lives in the Mississippi called the pallid sturgeon.

Free Flow Power will also have to convince barge operators that their turbines won't interfere with commercial traffic. "There are times where you can have a low-water period where there is only 10 to 20 feet from the bottom to the top of the water; if you have pylons installed in certain areas, a vessel could run into them," says Mark Wright, vice president ofthe American Waterways Operators, a trade group representing the tugboat, towboat, and barge industry.

Edward Lovelace, Free Flow Power's vice president of engineering, says all of the sites selected by Free Flow Power will have sufficient clearance above them even during periods of low water. Drawing on historical flow data from the Mississippi, the company selected sites that maintained a depth of at least 40 feet during approximately 100-year lows. Such sites would allow for a minimum of 20 feet of water above the tops of the turbines for barges that draw no more than 14 feet of water.

WIFIBOT

French Manufacturer of wireless robotic platforms

 
   
Nous sommes une entreprise française spécialisée depuis 2003 dans les robots mobiles WIFI pour l'éducation,
la recherche et la défense sous Linux et Windows Xpe SP3.

We are a french company working in mobile robotics and specialized since 2003 in low cost, wi-fi enabled,
multi-purpose platforms running Linux or Windows XPe.

WiFiBoT comes to fill the gap between the simple toys and the sophisticated but
expensive robots that can be found today in the market. In our platforms you will find
the right compromise between cost and sophistication so you don’t overshoot your
needs with any complicated gear.

Robonica Launches Roboni-i, Marking the Rise of Robotic Gaming

Robonica (http://www.robonica.com), a South African/U.S. start-up focused on developing new forms of robotic entertainment, announced the launch of Roboni-i. Fusing elements of robotics, R/C vehicles and interactive gaming, this revolutionary product will create a brand new entertainment category dubbed “Robotic Gaming” by delivering meaningful and structured gameplay - whether alone, with friends or online. Roboni-i is now available online at Robonica.com, ToysRUs.com, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and also at retail in Hammacher Schlemmer, Edmund Scientific and other specialty shops for the suggested retail price of $249.99.

“Robotic gaming is the future of the home entertainment industry,” said Robonica Inc. President/Director Tom Dusenberry, the founder and former CEO of Hasbro Interactive, who is in charge of the strategic direction for Robonica as well as the company’s Global Marketing Operations. “Using state of the art technology, Roboni-i delivers instant mass appeal that will elevate robotic entertainment to a new dimension. This product is the evolutionary ‘next step’ for entertainment robotics.”


A smart, fully programmable and highly agile two-wheeled robot, Roboni-i is the first entertainment robot to offer unlimited play patterns. The state-of-the-art robot features 16 sensors and four processors, RF (ZigBee) remote control and peer-to-peer protocol allowing for competitive gameplay with real-world robots. It also comes packaged with game accessories and six action games enabling players to lay out a playing field and use the gaming controller to select a game as they enter a new dimension of interactive, real-world robotic gameplay. Whether alone or with friends, they will need to beat the odds, race against time, manage resources, neutralize threats, execute special effects and collect bonus points to improve score.



The Roboni-i’s online universe, slated to launch its beta version in November, will be out of this world. By plugging Roboni-i into the PC, players will enter a virtual world where they can earn a virtual currency, participate in virtual missions, play online games and interact with friends who are online at the same time. Its Advanced PC-based Command Center Software will allow users to program every facet of the robot’s behavior, download games and upload performance data.

FUJISOFT Releases Humanoid Robot “PALRO”

FUJISOFT Incorporated has announced the successful development of a compact humanoid robot with integrated intellectual systems. Called “PALRO,” a model of the robot will be available for educational institutions from Monday, March 15, 2010.


FUJISOFT has been researching robot technology as part of its participation in the robot intelligence development project initiative of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The Company blended technology that it had acquired through built-in software development over the years with intelligence technology to develop PALRO®.

PALRO® is a 39.8-centimeter-tall, 1.6-kilogram humanoid robot, which combines communication intelligence that enables a spontaneous conversation with humans and mobile intelligence for autonomous locomotion. The name PALRO® is derived from a combination of “pal,” meaning “friend,” and “ro,” the first two letters of “robot.”

PALRO is equipped with a software platform permitting extensive functional enhancements. For example, it can be developed as a personal home concierge who provides a user with information and services. The application was developed using open architecture, and a dedicated library is available to support functional enhancement.

Although FUJISOFT is ultimately targeting a broad range of customer segments, from robot lovers to students and seniors, FUJISOFT will first release a model for educational institutions, specifically facilities with advanced curricula needs. FUJISOFT seeks to contribute to the development of technologies in Japan by first providing young engineers at educational institutions with robot technology as a learning material.

A model for general consumers is scheduled to be released during FY2010.

FUJISOFT will continue to develop new solutions focused on intelligence technology.