Posted in The New York Times Wirecutter
Title: You Should Turn on Your Ceiling Fan Every Time You Use Your AC
Author: Rose Maura Lorre
Research Associate, Danny Parker, comments on temperature changes from a ceiling fan, stating that “circulating air from a fan close by will make you feel more comfortable more quickly than you will just by being submerged in 74-degree or 72-degree air”.
By Sherri Shields
COCOA, May 8, 2025–Minimal clouds and a slight breeze made it a perfect day to see just how fast model solar sprint cars could race, how hot solar ovens could get, and how many laps electric go-carts could complete.
Nearly 400 students from 31 schools across Florida—from Tallahassee to Tampa to Boca Raton—converged at FSEC®, Florida’s premier energy research center at the University of Central Florida, on April 26th to compete at EnergyWhiz.
Students have the chance each year to compete in FSEC’s Junior or Senior Solar Sprint, Solar Energy Cookoff, Energy Inspired Art, Critter Comfort Cottage, and Energy Transfer Machine. And the Electrathon of Tampa Bay provides their high school, college, and adult teams a chance to race their electric go-carts at EnergyWhiz.
“EnergyWhiz provides an opportunity for youth to showcase innovative energy concepts in a fun, creative, and purposeful format,” said Brooks Rumenik, director of Florida’s Office of Energy. “It is evident that these young scientists are ready, willing, and determined to tackle any number of energy challenges they may face.”
One of the Critter Comfort Cottage middle school teams stepped out of the box and demonstrated how to sequester carbon using salps (gelatinous marine creatures) and phytoplankton. Read more
Posted in Florida Politics
Title: Florida emerges as national leader in solar energy workforce development
Author: Peter Schorsch
FSEC director, James Fenton, comments on the Florida Solar Apprenticeship Program and the successful energy workforce development in the state of Florida.
By Janet McIlvaine and Sherri Shields.
As the nation pays tribute to the late and former President Jimmy Carter, FSEC remembers him especially for his advocacy for energy efficiency and affordable housing. From establishing the U.S. Department of Energy, and installing the first solar panels on the White House, to building houses with Habitat for Humanity, President Carter’s solar and humanitarian legacy lives on.
The hand prints of Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter are on Habitat for Humanity homes around the world. They were there, diligently working alongside 104,000 volunteers to build 4,390 homes in 14 countries during their more than 35-year partnership with Habitat for Humanity International.
While this year also marks the Florida Solar Energy Center’s 50th anniversary, we reflect on FSEC’s contributions. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America program, FSEC focused on making “affordable housing” truly more affordable by incorporating energy-efficiency in the design process.
FSEC provided technical assistance, energy design, volunteer training, and on-site implementation leadership at six Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Projects from 1997-2007, resulting in 236 high-performance and ENERGY STAR®-certified homes in Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, New York, California, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas. Read more
Posted in UCF Today
Title: Industry Innovation Program at UCF Distributes Inaugural Awards to Fund Research in Sustainable Energy and Energy Grid Resilience
Author: Florida High Tech Corridor
The collaboration between UCF, Florida High Tech Corridor and Duke Energy collectively awards $375,000 to advance five faculty and student research projects. Projects include that of FSEC staff Manjunath Matam and Yifan Wang, as well as FSEC secondary joint appointment, Wei Sun.