Source: AJC
Cracker Barrel, modeled to represent a slower time of rocking chairs on old wooden porches, will soon feature a very modern technology — electric vehicle chargers.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. has launched a pilot project in which it will install Blink electric vehicle chargers, provided by ECOtality Inc., at 24 restaurants across Tennessee.
The pilot is part of a broader effort by ECOtality to get charging stations in more places across the country.
Cracker Barrel restaurants are mostly located near major highways where travelers can get to them, and back on the road, easily. ECOtality says this makes them an ideal fit for the charging stations.
Guests will be able to get a full charge in under 30 minutes.
No word yet as to where the power will be sourced from, but we at Energy Roofing Systems are hoping such a forward thinking vision would include the adoption of solar technology.
Showing posts with label electricity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label electricity. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Georgia can power electric car grid
Source: AJC
With our leaders seeking new paths to growth sectors, I’d submit that Georgia has an opportunity staring us right in the face.
By 2015, analysts are predicting nearly 1 million electric vehicles will be on the nation’s roads.
Our state is offering a number of incentives to fuel this growth with the standing $5,000 tax credit for purchasing vehicles and tax credits for the building of charging stations. In Atlanta, the Metro Atlanta EV Readiness Task Force was organized to help plan a charging infrastructure in the city.
It’s an exciting vision, really — a whole new generation of clean, energy-efficient plug-in electric vehicles capable of running for long periods from a single charge at home overnight.
Then when parked at the office, school or curbside, they could instantly and easily plug in for a recharge or someday even provide excess power to the electrical grid. This vision is bringing into focus a major obstacle to the development, deployment and adoption of electric vehicles on a large scale.
The fact is the electrical utility grid, as it exists today, simply can’t support large numbers of vehicles. In general, our electrical grid system doesn’t even know when a consumer has lost power until they phone the utility to tell someone.
There are a number of innovation hubs across the country focused on the drive trains, batteries and other features to improve the performance of these cars. What is missing is a focused effort targeting the “charging infrastructure” required to make electric vehicle use feasible. This is a leadership opportunity that Georgia can grab and run with. We can take the lessons we learn locally and turn them into a national example while making our state into a incubator for new companies in this field.
What would be the focus of this effort? One of the early assumptions about electric cars is that people would recharge the batteries overnight while their car is parked in their garage, paying for this electricity on their normal monthly utility bill. There’s just one problem with that scenario: A lot of people don’t or can’t park the car in their garage.
For many people, it might make more sense to charge cars up in a more central location, such as an employer’s or a MARTA station’s parking lot.
But this, too, raises questions: Who gets financially charged for that electricity? What if you travel outside your utility company’s service region — how do you pay for that electricity you use? And how do all those cars recharge their batteries during the day in what is already a peak usage period for electricity, especially if they are geographically concentrated at work or transit stations?
The answers to these questions all start with getting increased intelligence and information flowing side by side with the electrons.
So what makes our state well-suited to address the electrical grid and charging infrastructure challenges?
First, our local business community is already organizing around the issue with dozens of partners participating in the Technology Association of Georgia’s (TAG) Smart Grid Society. Leveraging Georgia Tech and its world class research and engineering expertise is critical to addressing this challenge.
Georgia is home to more than 230 automotive-related manufacturing companies, so we clearly have a concentration of partners locally. All this will be complemented by Georgia’s 42 electric membership cooperatives and providers like Cobb Energy and Southern Company.
Also, Georgia Power has already begun work with auto manufacturers to research the impact of electric vehicles on the grid, and is helping to develop industry standards for electric vehicles.
The U.S. government has already committed billions of economic stimulus money to support electric transportation roll-outs across the country.
Georgia has won some of this funding to electrify at least 85 parking spaces at three or more different truck stops. With the right, focused effort around charging infrastructure, Georgia could possibly attract even more stimulus funding.
Making sure Georgia is in on the ground level for this new part of the green ecosystem will be central to accelerating economic development, creating new high-paying jobs and entrepreneurial innovation locally.
With our leaders seeking new paths to growth sectors, I’d submit that Georgia has an opportunity staring us right in the face.
By 2015, analysts are predicting nearly 1 million electric vehicles will be on the nation’s roads.
Our state is offering a number of incentives to fuel this growth with the standing $5,000 tax credit for purchasing vehicles and tax credits for the building of charging stations. In Atlanta, the Metro Atlanta EV Readiness Task Force was organized to help plan a charging infrastructure in the city.
It’s an exciting vision, really — a whole new generation of clean, energy-efficient plug-in electric vehicles capable of running for long periods from a single charge at home overnight.
Then when parked at the office, school or curbside, they could instantly and easily plug in for a recharge or someday even provide excess power to the electrical grid. This vision is bringing into focus a major obstacle to the development, deployment and adoption of electric vehicles on a large scale.
The fact is the electrical utility grid, as it exists today, simply can’t support large numbers of vehicles. In general, our electrical grid system doesn’t even know when a consumer has lost power until they phone the utility to tell someone.
There are a number of innovation hubs across the country focused on the drive trains, batteries and other features to improve the performance of these cars. What is missing is a focused effort targeting the “charging infrastructure” required to make electric vehicle use feasible. This is a leadership opportunity that Georgia can grab and run with. We can take the lessons we learn locally and turn them into a national example while making our state into a incubator for new companies in this field.
What would be the focus of this effort? One of the early assumptions about electric cars is that people would recharge the batteries overnight while their car is parked in their garage, paying for this electricity on their normal monthly utility bill. There’s just one problem with that scenario: A lot of people don’t or can’t park the car in their garage.
For many people, it might make more sense to charge cars up in a more central location, such as an employer’s or a MARTA station’s parking lot.
But this, too, raises questions: Who gets financially charged for that electricity? What if you travel outside your utility company’s service region — how do you pay for that electricity you use? And how do all those cars recharge their batteries during the day in what is already a peak usage period for electricity, especially if they are geographically concentrated at work or transit stations?
The answers to these questions all start with getting increased intelligence and information flowing side by side with the electrons.
So what makes our state well-suited to address the electrical grid and charging infrastructure challenges?
First, our local business community is already organizing around the issue with dozens of partners participating in the Technology Association of Georgia’s (TAG) Smart Grid Society. Leveraging Georgia Tech and its world class research and engineering expertise is critical to addressing this challenge.
Georgia is home to more than 230 automotive-related manufacturing companies, so we clearly have a concentration of partners locally. All this will be complemented by Georgia’s 42 electric membership cooperatives and providers like Cobb Energy and Southern Company.
Also, Georgia Power has already begun work with auto manufacturers to research the impact of electric vehicles on the grid, and is helping to develop industry standards for electric vehicles.
The U.S. government has already committed billions of economic stimulus money to support electric transportation roll-outs across the country.
Georgia has won some of this funding to electrify at least 85 parking spaces at three or more different truck stops. With the right, focused effort around charging infrastructure, Georgia could possibly attract even more stimulus funding.
Making sure Georgia is in on the ground level for this new part of the green ecosystem will be central to accelerating economic development, creating new high-paying jobs and entrepreneurial innovation locally.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Building Solar Panels Into Your Home
Source: Eco Green Articles
As we all suffer from global recession due to the economy we have right now, saving is really a must. But how can you save your money when you will find so many bills to be taken care of? Electricity has been one of our daily necessities.
Without electrical power, you can’t watch your favorite T.V show. Without electricity you won’t be able to appreciate the comfort of the home. Without electricity, your gadgets and appliances will be nothing but display pieces.
You may be one of those who would absolutely wish to have solar energy inside your home but just cannot find a method to start your project. So why not commence off with researching valuable info about photo voltaic power for homes within the internet or even in a book? The internet has always been a quick choice of researching issues like these!
Solar energy for properties is indeed a problem solver from electric bill consumption and a great way to possess a greener community too. Pv power for homes makes it feasible for every home owner to have free electricity and increase the value of their property immensely.
It also makes you a great role model for protecting your atmosphere by possessing solar energy for your house. Surely your whole neighborhood will install pv power for their houses sooner or later because you have provided them with a great example!
By getting solar power for homes, you will not just have free access of electrical energy in your home, you may not just have a greener community but also, getting photo voltaic power for properties increases property worth significantly.
According to the National Appraisers Institute, for every $1 your house saves in energy per year, it gains $20 in worth instantly. Imagine in case you saved your whole energy bill by using pv power – you do the math.
Utilizing renewable energy like that from the sun is indeed a self-contained source of power. If you purchase batteries, you are able to also get correct off the grid and by no means be subject to blackouts or brownouts ever again. With solar energy for homes, a brighter long term surely awaits the future generation.
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