It's no surprise that Philadelphia is the first city in the U.S. to adopt a state-of-the-art heat loss detection technology to help combat high utility costs. Already established in the UK, the HeatSeeker by Mark Group uses "award-winning thermal imaging technology"...
Energy Efficiency
Dust Settles On Solar Panel Discussion
There was an interesting article on Treehugger.com about an interview with Ray Burgess, president and CEO of Solar Power Technologies. In the interview Burgess is quoted as saying, "Solar panels do not work that well and few know it." Don't scrap your plans to invest...
Comparing Energy Usage
Speaking of comparing energy usage, the Department of Energy has two great maps featured on their website that lets you do just that, state by state. One map shows how each state rates for energy consumption per person (based on 2009 figures), measured in Millions of...
Monitor Energy Usage Through Facebook
Facebook has teamed up with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Opower to launch an app designed to help people monitor and decrease their energy usage -- a sort of social networking smart meter. Due out early next year, the application will include the...
Europe’s Smart Meter Plan
Can smart meters avert the impending European financial meltdown? Probably not, but anything is worth a shot. At the annual Metering, Billing/CRM Europe Conference in Amsterdam more than 4000 smart metering experts will gather to discuss the practicality of the EU's...
San Diego’s Blackout Blues
My sister-in-law in San Diego sent me a message late last week after I tried getting in touch with her: "Hey! We're in the middle of a rolling black out! The power is out in all of SD!…It's been 100 degrees for three days straight…Killed the power…" The blackout...
Solar Powering a Big Apple
According to a recent piece by CNN, 2/3s of the rooftops in New York City are suitable for solar power. With one million rooftops, well, you can figure out that math. It's a lot of kilowatts. So much, in fact, that it could power half the city, which would do wonders...
New Energy Star Label
ENERGY STAR is now recognizing the top-performing products among those that already have the ENERGY STAR label. The new "Most Efficient" designation will be awarded to products that "demonstrate exceptional and cutting-edge efficiency performance that...
Win a Solar System For Your Home
SunPower Corp. just launched the Solar Discovery Game, an online contest that will help promote solar energy education and awareness in the U.S. It will also win someone a $25,000 high-efficiency SunPower solar system for their home. All you need to do is log onto the...
Cooling Tips From ENERGYSTAR
Here are some great summer cooling tips, courtesy of ENERGYSTAR: Ditch the incandescents. Not only do they use more energy, they produce more heat. Swap them out for CFLs or LEDs. Get with the program. Anyone who hasn't installed a programmable thermostat is simply...