Matthew Wright
LED streetlights could achieve efficiencies of 97% by 2020 – much higher than domestic or commercial lamps. But are our governments enlightened enough?
LEDs will slash energy use for lighting by 95%, delivering huge savings to consumers but adding another ingredient to the death spiral for utilities.
News & Commentary
Renewables
Smart Energy
Corporate cannibals: Electricity sector may have to kill gas to save itself
The best opportunity for electricity sector growth and security is to cannibalise the gas networks.
Saudi University developed NO-water Mechanical Automated Dusting Device can clean solar panels in the desert daily, using no water at all.
A slight improvement on the current model, the Grattan Institute’s proposed electricity capacity tariff would still fail most consumers.
Soon, all hybrid inverters will be able to process weather data, allowing solar households to get power at the cheapest price possible at all times.
Victorian’s can live without their grid if they’re forced to through unfair pricing. Even with that state's fickle weather.
News & Commentary
People
Smart Energy
Tony Abbott
Frugal households subsidise rich and profligate energy users
Households are being forced by incumbent energy monopolies to pay electricity supply charges for grid capacity that they don’t actually need.
For hot water storage, phase change materials should rank as the most important household energy efficiency product after insulation, heat pumps and solar.
Grid operators and supportive governments may try and stymie solar, but the new wave of battery hybrids means the horse has already bolted.