The Energy Chronicle – Page 38 – Energy News from FSEC®, Florida's Premier Energy Research Center, at the University of Central Florida

Photovoltaics Are Half the Cost of Gasoline!

Sherri Shields Director's Message May 24, 2011electric car, gas prices, gasoline, Photovoltaics, PV 12 Comments

Everyone is impacted by the current high price of gasoline. President Obama gets criticized because the public thinks he can actually control the price, Big oil gets called before Congress because it gets substantial subsidies from taxpayers. And we, the citizens, pay the highest gas prices we have ever paid in the face of one of the country’s most severe economic downturns.

But there is hope for the Sunshine State, as every cloud has a silver lining.

For the past half dozen years or so, the automotive industry has become pretty serious about producing electric cars that work. The new Chevy Volt (Motor Trend’s Car of the Year) and the all-electric Nissan Leaf are good examples – and they are real game changers.

But what does this have to do with the cost of photovoltaics and gasoline?

Students’ Bright Ideas Shine at EnergyWhiz Olympics

Sherri Shields Press Release May 11, 2011Bright House, Cookoff, energy, Energy Innovations, EnergyWhiz Olympics, H2 Sprint, Hands-on Hydrogen, Hydrogen Sprint, JSS, Junior Solar Sprint, PR11-04, Solar Energy Cook-off, Whiz 0 Comment

COCOA, May 11, 2011 – Florida students have creative ideas for solving some of the world’s greatest energy challenges, and their solutions were demonstrated Saturday at the ninth-annual EnergyWhiz Olympics.

More than 900 students throughout Florida converged Saturday, May 7 at the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) in Cocoa to compete in the day-long competition showcasing student projects in alternative fuel technologies.

Solar Energy Cookoff teams were judged for their cooker's design. — Solar Energy Cookoff teams were judged on their cooker's design and the dish they cooked.

Events included the Bright House Solar Energy Cookoff, a solar cooker design and cooking contest; the Junior Solar Sprint, model-size solar car races; the High School Hydrogen Sprint and Hands-On-Hydrogen, model-size hydrogen-powered car races; and Energy Innovations, a full-scale solar electric design challenge. Read more

MEDIA ADVISORY: EnergyWhiz Olympics to Feature Students’ Solar Cars, Cookers

Sherri Shields Media Advisory May 2, 2011Bright House, Cookers, cooking, Energy Innovations, Energy Whiz, H2 Sprint, JSS, Junior Solar Sprint, Olympics, Solar Cookoff 0 Comment

The ninth-annual EnergyWhiz Olympics is a daylong event showcasing student projects in alternative energy. Activities include Energy Innovations, Hydrogen Sprint, Hands-On-Hydrogen, Junior Solar Sprint and Bright House Solar Energy Cookoff.

More than 650 Florida elementary, middle and high school students – from as far as Tallahassee and Miami – will participate starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 7, at the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center. FSEC is located at Brevard Community College’s Cocoa Campus, 1679 Clearlake Road. The public is invited to attend free of charge.
Read more

UCF’s FSEC Seeks Florida Homeowners for Retrofit Study

Sherri Shields Energy News April 28, 2011energy assessment, energy efficiency, home, homeowner, renovation, retrofit, study, utility bills 12 Comments

Update: July 11, 2011 – The PNNL Website is temporarily down. Applications are no longer being accepted from Florida.

Dear Florida Homeowner,

Are you interested in saving money on your utility bills? Do you wish your home used less energy and was more comfortable? Have you considered investing in a major home renovation? If so, your home may qualify for a free energy assessment, incentives through your local utility company, and free technical assistance from one of the nation’s leading national laboratories.

UCF’s Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) is partnering with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to help homeowners achieve 30 to 50 percent energy savings through home efficiency retrofits! If your house qualifies, your renovation will be part of a research study for PNNL that can help inform the nation about retrofit best practices. Read more

EnergyGauge Calculates New ENERGY STAR® HERS Index Target Automatically

Sherri Shields Energy News February 28, 2011EnergyGauge, HERS, raters, rating, software 2 Comments

We are pleased to announce the release of our newest software version, EnergyGauge USA 2.8.05. Incorporated in this release are several software enhancements designed specifically for energy raters. In our effort to provide a complete energy rating and registration tool for HERS raters and providers, we have included a new HERS registration system, and automated the calculations required for the ENERGY STAR Version 3 (Revision 1) National Program.

ENERGY STAR Homes has announced version 2.5 of their program will go in effect April 1, 2011 and version 3 will go in effect January 1, 2012. The version 3 process, and version 2.5 in most locations, requires that each home have a unique ENERGY STAR HERS Index Target calculated. This target requires the creation of an ENERGY STAR Reference Design Home and a size adjustment factor. EnergyGauge automates the multiple step process and handles all of the logic required to determine if an entered home passes versions 2.5 and 3.

To make an energy rater’s job even easier, we have taken the ENERGY STAR Version 3 Program one step further by not only incorporating newly required checklists for quality control, but also performing the logic associated with ensuring checklist input conforms to the program requirements for v2.5 and v3.0. The rater also has the ability to print the blank checklists from the software.

In addition, this release supports a new system designed to simplify the registration process for raters and create secure downloadable PDF documents. The process of creating and uploading the PDF documents to the HERS Registration Web site is performed automatically at the time the provider performs the registration. Reports will include a digital signature embedded into the PDF document at the time of creation to ensure security and authenticity.

To learn more about EnergyGauge go to www.EnergyGauge.com