• Climate
    • Climate Change
    • Extreme Weather
    • Mitigation
    • Natural Phenomena
  • Green Living
    • Buildings
    • Farming
    • Food and Drink
    • Holidays
    • Home & Garden
    • Natural Health
    • Personal Journey
    • Shopping
  • Resources
    • Finance
    • Water
      • Fresh Water
      • Oceans
    • Energy
    • Trees
    • Waste
      • Composting
      • Pollution
      • Recycling
      • Reduction
      • Repurpose
      • Reuse
  • Biodiversity
    • Air
    • Water
    • Land
  • Innovation
    • Creativity
    • Design
      • Green Building
    • Science
  • Community
    • Civil Society Work
    • Climate Express
    • Eco Communities
    • Faith communities
    • Gatherings
      • Awards
      • Conferences
      • Expo
    • Green Jobs
    • Vulnerable People
  • Responsibility
    • Calls to Action
    • Business
      • Corporate
      • SME’s
    • Governance
      • Cities & Towns
      • Governments
      • Policy Development
    • Individual
  • Training
    • Books
    • Courses
    • DVD’s & Films
    • Youth
      • Bursaries
      • Challenges
      • Competitions
      • Internships
      • Mentorships
      • Schools

The Green Times

Climate change is the most widespread & complex problem humanity has ever faced! There is no time to waste and we need to turn green talk into profound green action. This is the intention of the GREEN TIMES.

You are here: Home / Articles / Help make solar power better and win $1 Million

Help make solar power better and win $1 Million

August 1, 2014 Leave a Comment

solar power google competition2“Smaller is baller,” “Min it to win it,” “Think shrink.”

Those are the puns Google is using to promote its new competition: $1 million to whomever can invent a working power inverter for solar and other forms of renewable energy that’s roughly as small as a laptop. The company has teamed up with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to launch the competition.

For background, a power inverter is a box that takes alternating current (AC) out of a direct current (DC) — such as a solar array — and applies that AC to run things in our homes, offices, and businesses. In order to use the DC power generated from wind turbines and solar panels, it must be converted into alternating current, via a power inverter.

“Much of our domestic world relies on AC,” the tech blog Venturebeat explains. “And AC needs robust power distribution grids, huge power plants and either fossil fuel, nuclear power, or falling water.”

Help bring electricity to the most remote parts of the planet

As they are currently, inverters for solar and wind are, according to Google, too big — “roughly the size of a picnic cooler,” the company said on its new website for the “Littlebox Challenge.” But if they can be shrunk down to the size of a tablet or laptop, the company says, it would “enable more solar-powered homes, more efficient distributed electrical grids, and could help bring electricity to the most remote parts of the planet.”

“There will be obstacles to overcome; like the conventional wisdom of engineering”, Google Green’s Eric Raymond said in a statement announcing the competition. “But whoever gets it done will help change the future of electricity.”

The challenge for engineers is to design and build a 1-kilowatt-minimum power inverter with a power density of at least 50 watts per cubic inch — not an insane amount of power, but enough to fuel some lights and a box fan. Applicants must register by September and submit their ideas by July 15 of next year. Eighteen finalists will be chosen, and a grand prize winner will be announced sometime in January 2016, the company said.

A puzzling relationship with renewable energy

Google has long-promoted increased use of renewable energy, but its relationship with it has been a bit of a puzzle. The company’s Google Green subsidiary has invested millions in clean energy projects throughout the last decade, with an eventual goal to power its data centers with 100 percent renewable energy. The company claims that, with purchased offsets, its carbon footprint is zero, meaning it does not contribute to climate change. So far, Google has sunk more than $1 billion into wind and solar projects that in total generate more than 2 gigawatts of power.

solar power google competition

At the same time, however, Google has hosted fundraisers to benefit one of the U.S. Senate’s most vehement climate deniers, and is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — a corporate lobbyist group that actively works to thwart statewide renewable energy programs.

The two-way relationship has raised questions about the company’s intentions among some environmentalists, who are asking Google to cut ties with the anti-climate group. But one possible explanation for the company’s partnership with interests purportedly contrary to their own is that it’s necessary to help sway them to their side, as Tim Worstall in Forbes notes.

“Sadly, the way that the modern economy works is that government, at all levels, has a great deal of influence over how business works,” he writes. “So, it is necessary for a large business to flash the cash around to both sides, to join lobby groups from all sides of the political compass.”

By Emily Atkin. Source: Think Progress

More that you may like:

Green Savings Bond helps consumers shape SA’s future
SA snubs conference on illegal wildlife trade
Stellenbosch team may have solved crucial solar puzzle
Comment on Eskom's nuclear licence application before it's too late

Share this:

  • Google
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Email
  • Print
  • Pinterest
tgt_bottom_banner_border_two_frames

Leave a Reply or Follow Cancel reply

Welcome to SA\s green news portal
Advertise here
  •      ECO DIRECTORY
    • Accommodation
    • Animals
    • Building
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Cosmetics
    • Electronics
    • Energy
      • Saving
      • Solar
    • Financial Services
    • Food/Farming
    • Gardening
    • Government
    • Health
    • Office
    • Publications
    • Restaurants
    • Supermarkets
    • Training
    • Transport
    • Trees
    • Waste
      • Composting
      • Recycling
    • Water
    • Web Services

Events

  1. World Environment Day

    May 5 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
  2. African Utility Week

    May 15 @ 8:00 am - May 17 @ 5:00 pm
  3. Emerging Creative Leaders Cape Town Fellowship Program

    May 26 @ 8:00 am - June 1 @ 5:00 pm
  4. Adaptation Futures Conference 2018

    June 18 @ 8:00 am - June 21 @ 5:00 pm
  5. Natural Building Course

    October 7 @ 8:00 am - October 13 @ 5:00 pm

View All Events

advertise with Green Times

Tags

Africa agriculture America animals awards Cape Town carbon emissions children climate change community conference conservation drought economy education energy Eskom extreme weather farming food global warming government Greenpeace health ocean oceans petco plastic Plastics Federation of South Africa Plastics SA pollution protect Recycling renewable energy research science solar energy South Africa species protection sustainability united nations waste Water wildlife youth
2012-giving-thanks-for-environmental-wins
CONTRIBUTE HERE
Do you like what we do? Would you like to help keep this work afloat with a small monthly contribution? Join as a member and let's do it together.
nedbank-plays-pivotal-role-in-sas-first-green-bond
BECOME A SPONSOR
Doing good is good for business. We rely on corporate CSI and philanthropic support to drive sustainability mainstream, where it belongs.
  • ABOUT GREEN TIMES
    • Our Ethos
    • Our Intention
  • Support
    • Editorial
    • Sales
    • Contributions
  • Journalist Training
  • Feedback from Our Clients
  • Newsfeed Archive
JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORKS
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
JOIN OUR MONTHLY NEWSFEED
Like our work? Please help Subscribe-now

      · Copyright © 2011–2018 All rights reserved · GREEN TIMES +2721 855 0518 · Design & Admin - THE GREEN TIMES ·

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.