Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, is offering a new way to provide home energy-saving tips through its PowerMeter, a web tool that lets you monitor your home’s energy use from anywhere you can access the Internet.

This is just one planned effort by Google to measure up against Microsoft’s Hohm energy application, which can gather and display a home’s energy data and gives users a questionnaire in order to help make a home more energy efficient. Google is also developing a solution to gather energy usage information from gas and water meters.

Google’s PowerMeter application evaluates the size of your home and crunch some of your energy use data, both current and historical. With this information, the new feature recommends several ways for you to save energy at home throughout the day. PowerMeter will give you a badge for each energy efficiency recommendation you adopt, and once you’ve made all of those improvements, the PowerMeter will reassess your home and make new recommendations. In other words, the application evolves as your home becomes more energy efficient.

Google has already gone a step further and inked deals with several utility companies that use smart meters in their service areas. Under the arrangement, the smart meters flow energy information into the PowerMeter. This gives customers a breakdown of how much energy individual appliances use, allowing people to compare their own energy use to that of their neighbor’s.

How is this relevant to solar energy? Simply put, if you reduce the amount of electricity you buy from the utility, you’re able to meet a larger portion of your power needs with a solar electric system.

Powermeter’s motto, meanwhile, speaks for itself: “Save energy. Save money. Make a difference.” This is music to our ears.

On Monday, the California Legislature will vote on a bill to raise California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, potentially requiring 33 percent of electricity generated by the state’s utilities to come from renewable resources by 2020.

State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) proposed the bill, SB 722, which has drawn attention from stakeholders like the Sierra Club, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and multiple labor unions. Each group has its own priorities for the bill’s impact, ranging from maximizing green job creation within the state to minimizing local air pollution. A key decision variable is how much of the state’s renewable  electricity must be generated within its borders, since California currently imports a quarter of its electricity from outside state lines. Permitting more renewable electricity to be imported — say, from Arizona — could lower costs. Forcing more to be generated in state, on the other hand, would promote the creation of green jobs within California. As Senator Simitian told the San Jose Mercury News, “[i]t is an extraordinarily complex task, both in respect to the issue itself and the politics surrounding it.”

Similar bills proposed by Senator Simitian have failed in past years, although Governor Schwarzenegger used an executive order to enact the same 33 percent requirement after vetoing last year’s version of the bill. He cited the urgent need to streamline permitting processes for new generating capacity and transmission within the state as his reason for opposing it. Governor Schwarzenegger’s executive order will lose relevance very shortly, however, as a new governor will soon be leading California. The impending election, more than any other variable surrounding this bill, could motivate the compromises and negotiations needed to pass it this year.

Good news for Arizona homeowners: you will soon have (yet another) online source for solar-related information.

The Phoenix Business Journal yesterday reported that the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) will on Wednesday launch a new solar energy information website. Dubbed Arizona Goes Solar, the site will “provide a one-stop source of information on what residents and businesses need to know before they adopt solar.” Interestingly, several of the state’s utility companies — including Arizona Public Service (APS) and Salt River Project (SRP) — have had a hand in the site’s development.

According to the article,

Solar industry officials have been clamoring for more transparency in the industry in recent months, particularly in light of lowered incentive rates.Both APS and SRP cut back their incentives this past spring in the wake of unprecedented demand, prompting those in the industry to inquire about the incentives — where they were being spent and how many incentivized contracts were never fulfilled. Also on the website will be information about the state’s renewable energy standard, which requires utilities to get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025; educational workshops; and a map showing where residential and commercial solar systems are being installed.

Among the site’s offerings, I’ve got to say the most interesting is the Arizona solar map. The other bits of info are readily available from numerous sources, including this one and this one.

Just over a month after issuing an energy-related challenge to state businesses, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter is at it again, issuing funding for various types of energy projects through the state.

In an effort to further strengthen his state’s “New Energy Economy,” Governor Ritter recently announced $2.2 million in New Energy Economic Development (NEED) grants for 23 state communities, school districts and nonprofits. The NEED grants are funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The new funding will be added to the $5.6 million raised through private and public funding, bringing the total to $7.8 million for all 23 projects combined.

In total, there were 106 applicants for this latest round of NEED grants, a program that has already granted $3 million in 2008 and 2009. This latest round of funding marks the second time the ARRA has funded the NEED grants.

The most recent NEED recipients will, as a whole, pursue a wide range of energy-related projects, from a solar energy installation at an affordable housing unit in Denver, Colorado, to several energy efficiency upgrades at a nonprofit preschool in Gilpin County, to a hydro-electric project in Basalt Colorado. Though the majority of applicants did not receive NEED funding, State Energy Office Director Tom Plant sees the silver lining in such a competitive process:

“The widespread interest in NEED grants is another indicator that Colorado’s businesses and communities are embracing a new energy future. These projects help accelerate market penetration of proven clean-energy technologies, and continue to heighten Colorado’s profile for investors in the New Energy Economy.”

The projects help the state in other ways beyond incorporating renewable energy: they mean more jobs for Coloradans and lower utility bills for those who benefit from the installation. There has been no mention of another round of NEED funding, though the program’s popularity may spur the state into considering another round in the future. Find the list of all 23 NEED recepients here.

In order to meet the energy demands of front-line U.S. soldiers in remote areas of Afghanistan, two types of portable renewable energy technologies have recently been developed. The systems –which debuted at a recent the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) symposium in Baltimore, Maryland – will give soldiers more mobility, allowing them to operate away from bases for a longer period of time.

One is the Rucksack Enhanced Portable Power System (REPPS), developed by the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) Army Power Division. REPPS is a lightweight device that can charge laptops and other electronics of similar energy needs. Made up of flexible photovoltaic (PV) modules, it is a continuous power source that will allow soldiers to carry solar-powering stations in their rucksacks. A series of connectors and adaptors allow multiple devices to be charged. If there is a need to charge something high-powered, the REPPS can be chained together for increased potential. REPPS is capable of charging electronics in five to six hours.

The other technology is the Reusing Existing Natural Wind and Solar system (RENEWS), a hybrid wind-solar energy system that is meant for soldiers’ higher energy needs. RENEWS is larger than the REPPS and requires a team of two to transport it around. The reason for it s size is because it incorporates a battery storage. The panels and turbines collect and store the energy in the battery, and devices are charged through AC/DC outlets.

Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), through which the manufacturing and deployment of the renewable energy systems are being funded, more than 700 REPPS and 125 RENEWS will soon reach soldiers in Afghanistan.

For more on the armed forces are making use of solar power, check out “U.S. Marine Corps Gets Solar in the Field.”

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has recently proposed a new way of subsidizing small scale solar energy systems (1-20 megawatts). And, according to Green Stock Central, the proposal may soon be passed; a final vote is expected within the next month.

The plan is called the Renewable Auction Mechanism (RAM). It would would work much in the same way a Feed-in Tariff (FIT) system works, with the difference being that rates of the tariff would be set by an open bidding process. Proponents say this approach would help in two ways. It would drive down high consumer rates and bring in reasonable rates of returns for solar developers.

The project, if passed, will begin in 2011 and run through 2012. The projects of 20 megawatts (MW) or less will total 1,000 MW of solar capacity that will be fed into the grids of California’s three major investor-owned utilities (IOUs): Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE). Under the plan, an auction would take place every 180 days. At each auction, 250MW will be given to each of the three top IOUs.

These are the companies that may gain the most from the RAM program.

For the moment, this is as flashy as it gets. Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah will be home to a 2.6 megawatt solar system. This massive set of panels will produce 25 percent of the large building’s electricity needs. Bella Energy is performing the installation, and NexGen energy is funding it.

A rooftop solar energy system of this size requires some “creative” financing, as Ted Rose of NexGen told Fast Company. In this case, NexGen Energy outbid competitors to own the system, enabling them to sell power back to the grid for all of Salt Lake County. The price of this solar energy is fixed for 20 years, giving NexGen a stable, low risk investment, and protecting local utility customers from rising power prices. Plus, the Salt Palace gets the clear bragging rights that come with supporting (literally, not figuratively) the nation’s largest rooftop solar system.

Just one more example of why a good roof is a terrible thing to waste.

Why lie? The best use of solar power we discovered this week was MIT’s solar powered oil clean up robot. Using the sun’s energy to clean up floating oil is definitely the coolest use of solar we’ve seen in a while. However, if you’re looking for a pointless gadget that runs on solar, here we have…solar coasters!

Just what you always wanted? Obviously. Everyone needs a glowing, colorful place to put their fancy cocktails. A watermelon margarita just wouldn’t look the same without one. Even better, these gadgets run on LED batteries that recharge in the sun. According to the Glow Company, which sells them, a solar coaster “Automatically senses daylight and lights up in the dark when a drink is placed on top.” Really, what more could you want?

Federal regulators may be close to granting final approval for a really, really big solar power project in California. We’re talking 1,000 megawatts (MW), here — enough generating capacity to power about 800,000 homes.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on August 20 issued a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Blythe Solar Power Project, a proposed utility-scale solar installation that, if constructed, would be the largest solar energy plant in the world. In line with standard procedure, the EIS is open for public comment through September 18. The California Energy Commission has already recommended the plans be approved.

Given the size of the proposed plant (its footprint would be about 6,000 acres) the Blythe project has “drawn relatively little environmental controversy,” according to the New York Times. The article suggests this may have to do with the fact that the area around Blythe has, in some ways, already been developed — mainly for agriculture. The same cannot be said of other regions, like the Mojave Desert, where plans for a solar energy installation were scaled back in February due to environmental impact concerns. More details, of course, are available in the EIS, which is available on the BLM’s website.

If all goes according to plan for the Blythe project, four phases of construction will be completed over the course of six years at total cost of about $6 billion. The project, the solar industry hopes, will demonstrate the viability of large-scale solar as a means to deliver emissions-free, competitively priced electricity.

Watching the live coverage of oil spilling into the Gulf Coast, did you ever think, “If only we had a machine that could just suck up the oil on the surface of the water…”?

Well, the one thing that you can say about the Gulf Coast disaster this summer is that it got some of the most brilliant minds in our country thinking about and developing better ways to respond, should such an event ever happen again. On Wednesday, we got a sneak peak at some potential solutions that have been in the works.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT)  SENSEable City Lab revealed its oil-sucking robots – named Seaswarm Robots – for the world to see. The robots are capable of spotting oil completely on their own, and when the oil is found, they use a GPS system to coordinate with their robot teammates to gather in one area and decide the most efficient way to clean up the mess.

Assaf Biderman, who oversaw the research team that developed the robots, described them to CNN as, “a carpet rolling on the surface of water.” The robots, which cost roughly $20,000 each, stand on a conveyor belt of sorts that floats and turns on the ocean’s surface. As it does, it propels the robot along. The robot, then, is able to lift oil out of the water using a nanomaterial that attracts only oil and not water. The robot can absorb up to 20 times its weight in oil.

MIT, it appears, thought of it all when developing these environment-cleaning, conveyor belt-pushed, eco-bots. When they suck up the oil, there are two options: burn the oil on the spot by using a heater, or neatly bag the oil and leave it afloat to be picked up later. And the best part? The robots have no use for the oil they are used to clean. They are solar-powered, and only require about 100 watts of power — the same as a really bright lightbulb.

The robots will be officially introduced on Saturday in Venice, Italy. MIT estimates that the robots will be ready for use in a year.