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THURSDAY 09 SEPTEMBER, 2010 | |

Energy Matters Announces Video, Mobile And Podcast News

In what is thought to be a first in the Australian solar power industry, national solar solutions provider Energy Matters has announced the launch of video and mobile news services, with podcast features also on the way.
    
According to Energy Matters co-founder Max Sylvester, the new features are to cater to the differing needs of Energy Matters' readers.
    
"Our web site has been incredibly popular, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors a month, and our news section section has been a major drawcard. We've covered nearly a thousand solar power and renewable energy related stories so far and the move to video news and a mobile service was just the next logical step."
    
The new mobile service, optimised to be compatible with most handsets, is available via energymatters.com.au/mobile.
    
"Something we were conscious of in developing the mobile site is people's often limited data plan allowances, so the pages of our mobile service are very lightweight. It's fast and it's free - just what mobile users want - and now they can stay up to date with the latest in renewable energy news from just about anywhere."
    
The company's video news feature is available via energymatters.com.au/video
    
"We've just posted our first two episodes and we're proud to have been able to produce these totally in-house; utilising the skills of the existing Energy Matters team. It's been an exciting project for everyone involved and we look forward to refining and expanding the service."
    
A podcast version of the video news is also in production, expected to be released over the coming days in MP3 format to suit most handheld devices and laptop/desktop computers.
    
"Now we offer news in text, video, mobile and within the next few days, audio - so there's an option to suit just about everyone. These free services are a part of our ongoing advocacy for renewable energy in Australia; empowering change in regard to how we approach the vital issue of energy in a carbon constrained world facing a climate change crisis."
    
And as for the possibility of Energy Matters news on print and paper? 
    
"We'll leave that to Mr. Murdoch," says Mr. Sylvester.
    

Energy Matters Video News - September 9, 2010

Welcome to Energy Matters' first edition of video news - a first for the solar power industry in Australia! Presented by Energy Matters team member Virginia, each week we'll be covering some of the stories from Australia and around the world recently added to our renewable energy news section.
  
This week, Virginia covers the CEC's call for a carbon price, Johnson & Johnson Medical's new massive rooftop solar array in Sydney, NASA's plans to hurl a solar panel toward the sun, Archimedes' fabled solar powered death ray and much more.
   

In this week's episodes:
   
- Johnson & Johnson Medical recently unveiled a 200kW rooftop solar power system at the company's North Ryde facility in Sydney.
   
- The Clean Energy Council has released an open letter signed by nineteen of Australia’s major energy retailers, calling on the government to set a price on carbon as soon as possible, highlighting the importance of Australia meeting emissions reduction target of 5 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020
   
- NASA has embarked on a mission to study the sun closer than ever before – and it will also be the closest olar panels have ever been to a star.
   
- After winning in the corporation Division of the Contribution to the Environment category at this year’s Melbourne Awards, national solar power solutions provider Energy Matters has been nominated as a finalist at the Citipower Port Phillip Business Excellence Awards in two categories: Environmental Impact and Environmental Products and Services.
   
- The Victorian government has announced that it will be streamlining approvals for large-scale renewable projects like wind farms and thermal solar plants, a measure which should significantly increase clean energy sources for the state. 
   
- REC has won the Solar Industry Award for Module Innovation, presented by Solar PV Management Magazine. 
   
- Burnt-out power lines and other expensive pieces of electricity grid infrastructure destroyed in the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires could be replaced with stand-alone renewable energy sources like solar panels or wind turbines, according to a report by the Alternative Energy Association.
   
-  Legend has it that the Greek mathematician, engineer and astronomer, Archimedes invented a solar powered heat ray that focused sunlight onto approaching Roman ships, causing them to catch fire. Did it really exist?
   
More details on these stories and many more can be viewed in our renewable energy news section. For news on the run, don't forget to check out our new mobile news service!
  
Related:
  
Other Energy Matters videos
  

Jellyfish Protein Key To Cheaper Solar Power

As the world switches on to solar power more than ever before, a Swedish research team has come up with a novel solution to comparatively high cost of producing silicon-based solar photovoltaic cells. 
   
A research team headed by Zackary Chiragwandi at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg have isolated the protein that makes the bioluminescent jellyfish Aequorea victoria glow in the dark; and by placing it between two electrodes, the team have been able to produce solar energy from animal matter.
  
The method is quite complex, but biologically amazing: the green fluorescent protein (GFP) is placed on a wafer of silicon dioxide between two aluminium electrodes. The protein then transforms itself into strands between the electrodes. When ultraviolet light is directed onto the electrodes the protein absorbs the photons and emits electrons, which flow through a circuit and produce electricity, effectively becoming a miniature photovoltaic cell.
  
The GFP acts like the dye used in other types of photovoltaic cells used on solar panels, such as “dye sensitised” solar cells, called Grätzel cells, which are considered technically attractive because they are made of relatively low-cost materials and do not require elaborate apparatus to manufacture.
  
But the advantage of using glow-in-the-dark jellyfish protein is it does not require expensive materials like titanium dioxide particles to facilitate photovoltaic energy generation. 
  
While the discovery is unlikely to rock the solar world at this point, or cause much concern in the boardrooms of the big silicon producers, it is yet another example of the innovation at work in the race to find new, cheaper ways of making renewable energy cost-comparable with finite fossil fuels. 
  
(Image credit: Sierra Blakely)