Energie solaire : la France fait deux fois mieux en 2009

par Julien Leclercq, Mardi 9 février 2010

La production d’énergie solaire en France a doublé entre 2008 et 2009.

Le cabinet d’audit, de conseil financier et juridique PricewaterhouseCoopers a publié son deuxième rapport sur la filière photovoltaïque en France (Voir dossier : « Qu’est-ce que l’énergie photovoltaïque ? »), et cette étude est pleine de bonnes surprises.

Elle a en effet estimé que le secteur avait produit 250 mégawatheures l’an passé, contre 105 en 2008! Un chiffre qui a presque triplé et qui témoigne d’une spectaculaire remontée de la France au classement international, de la douzième à la septième position, juste derrière l’Italie mais devant la Chine. Ceux qui en doutaient encore en sont désormais pour leurs frais : l’énergie solaire est bel et bien en plein essor dans l’Hexagone, et dans la mesure où une diminution de 30 % du montant de modules solaires est attendue cette année, la filière devrait être encore plus compétitive.

Le rapport de PricewaterhouseCoopers a aussi tablé sur la création de 15 000 emplois directs d’ici à 2012. En attendant, l’année 2010 sera celle de la « consolidation », tant au niveau des installateurs, des fournisseurs et des distributeurs, dixit Benjamin Cros, Senior manager en charge de l’énergie au sein du pôle Conseil en Stratégie du cabinet : « De grands acteurs sont à l’affût et on devrait voir surgir de nouveaux entrants, soit en accès direct soit via des acquisitions et des partenariats ».

Le secteur est cependant encore confronté à des difficultés. D’une part, un décret paru en début d’année a instauré une diminution des tarifs de rachat de l’électricité solaire et, d’autre part, « les fabricants français de modules sont toujours peu nombreux, non intégrés et fragiles, alors même que les technologies continuent d’évoluer et que des ruptures sont attendues ». Ce constat invite à la prudence, et tant que la crise économique ne sera pas résorbée, tant que les régions n’auront pas développé de grandes centrales photovoltaïques, le secteur sera pourrait bien ne pas connaître une progression aussi soutenue ces prochaines années que celle observée en 2009.

Crédit photo : flickr – Trebosc

Energie solaire : quand la France rayonnera | zegreenweb

Energie solaire : quand la France rayonnera

par Guillaume Duhamel, Lundi 30 novembre 2009

Longtemps parmi les mauvais élèves dans cette matière au coefficient grandissant, la France commence à prendre le pli de l’énergie solaire. Les mentalités évoluent à mesure que les enjeux vont crescendo.

Des parkings de supermarché aux maisons de particuliers, ils se généralisent, préservent l’environnement et – appréciable tour de force – ne dénaturent pas le paysage. C’est que l’enjeu est de taille : il s’agit de préserver une couche d’ozone que la présence au demeurant de moins en moins monopolistique du nucléaire menace.

Jusqu’à l’été 2006, l’énergie générée par les panneaux solaires n’atteignait pas un pour cent de l’électricité produite dans l’Hexagone. Les garants de la cause écologique se faisaient des cheveux blancs mais peuvent désormais regarder l’avenir avec davantage de sérénité : largement subventionnée depuis et objet de mesures incitatives, l’énergie astrale commence à se faire sa place… au soleil. Via des initiatives judicieuses et que la survie de la planète rend chaque jour plus nécessaire, l’Etat a emmené une proportion intéressante de concitoyens dans son sillage.

Ainsi le coût d’une installation photovoltaïque – de 20 à 25 000 euros en moyenne pour une installation de 30m2 – est-il en partie compensé par des crédits d’impôt, et parfois par des subventions de région. Il y a trois ans, l’Etat a en outre imposé un « deal » entre EDF et les particuliers souscripteurs, lesquels sont liés contractuellement à l’entreprise publique pendant vingt ans.

Sur la base tarifaire de 11,06 centimes d’euro/kilowattheure, ils lui achètent l’électricité destinée à leur consommation personnelle puis lui revendent, parfois jusqu’à cinq fois plus cher, la totalité de l’électricité solaire produite. Beaucoup plus facile, dans de telles conditions, d’y trouver son compte, car en sept ou huit ans, le contribuable peut prétendre à récupérer sa mise de départ et, plus tard, tabler sur une rente comprise entre 1 500 et 2 000 euros annuels.

Ce qu’il reste à faire

Assez peu connu, cet arrangement, et par extension l’ensemble des avantages financiers et environnementaux que confère l’énergie solaire, gagneraient à faire l’objet d’une campagne de communication plus poussée, condition sine qua none pour qu’elle s’inscrive définitivement dans les moeurs. Dans cette même optique incitative, l’Etat s’est par ailleurs engagé à simplifier les démarches administratives, jusqu’ici plutôt fastidieuses.

L’énergie solaire sera-t-elle le nouveau standard de demain ? Si l’hégémonie du nucléaire ne semble pas prête d’être remise en cause, et que l’avant-gardiste Allemagne, incontestable leader mondial en la matière, ne sera sans doute pas rattrapée de sitôt, une répartition plus équitable est en tout cas envisageable.

Cette source d’énergie trop longtemps oubliée a un potentiel inégalable : d’après la NASA, le soleil fournit ainsi une quantité d’énergie six mille fois supérieure à la consommation électrique planétaire, et la technologie actuelle est suffisamment au point pour assouvir plusieurs dizaines de fois nos besoins en électricité. Reste le problème de la cherté des infrastructures, qui finira peut-être par ne plus en être un si chacun passe le message à ses voisins.

Dan Phillips Builds Enchanting and Affordable Houses from Recycled Materials

Dan Phillips Builds Enchanting and Affordable Houses from Recycled Materials

by Ana Lisa Alperovich, 06/10/11

‘One man's rubbish is another man's gold’ and Dan Phillips has proven that age old truism through his construction business Phoenix Commotion. A trained architect from Huntsville, Texas, Mr. Phillips helps people build their own affordable dream homes with recycled materials that most people would consider useless. Up until now, he has helped construct 14 houses, each of which have welcomed low-income, first-time buyers to the world of home ownership.

Photo © Phoenix Commotion

When Dan Phillips was a child, he saw his parents suffer through the Great Depression years and he quickly learned to value what he had. When he was 14 years old he built a bicycle completely out of scrap materials collected at a nearby dumpsite. And after that first bike, he never looked back.

To build these wonderful and enchanting homes — often made up of 75+% of recycled materials — Mr. Phillips and his builders use what is available to them locally. This ranges from scrap wood leftovers, mismatched bricks and tiles, bottle tops and corks, and even bones he’s collected from a nearby cattle yard. In fact, one of Huntsville’s houses, the Bone House, has a complete range of furniture made from cattle bones, like this customized quirky table and chairs that come with a spine.

Photo © Phoenix Commotion

One of the most playful homes in the area has to be The Story Book House. Inspired by children’s stories that Mr. Phillips used to read as a kid, this Normandy-style home has a unique striped rooftop. The wooden door is decorated with colored bottle ends, acting as stained glass and welcoming visitors with a classy recycled style.

When the Plant Environment needed an extra shelter, owner Clyde Lavelle commissioned Mr. Phillips to help him make a structure with recycled aluminum soft drink cans that were flattened and folded, making a recyclable and decorative façade.

The roof of the License Plate House is entirely made from discarded plates collected from the Texas tax office, which like mirrors, reflect the sun’s radiant energy back into space, helping cool the house throughout the hot, arid summers. Inside the house a floor covered with hundreds of different colored bottle tops make use of creative reuse exposing a cute illustration of an animal.

Photo © Phoenix Commotion

The first house built by Mr. Phillips is also probably the most gorgeous one. The Tree House is located thirty-five feet above the ground on top of a Bois d’arc tree and consists of a complete main house, a working art studio and a large patio area. The house also features a cork floor and is mainly built from scrap wood and tree branches. One of the most striking features of the Tree House, however, is the arty recycled frame ceiling salvaged from a shop that was getting rid of its old frame samples. In addition to amazing views to the lush treetops, the house features a shiny wall decoration made from broken mirrors that reflect the light coming in from the many circular windows of the house.

Even though Phoenix Commotion is not a nonprofit, the building business gives Mr. Phillips enough money to live from what he enjoys doing. The houses are taking less time to build than before and Phillips plans to replicate the idea of recycling materials to make unique sustainable affordable houses. But his biggest reward is to give the less fortunate a home of their own.

QSolar’s Rainbow-Hued Kristal Solar Panels Could Replace Windows and Wall

by Laura K. Cowan, 06/06/11

Solar panels often conjure up images of clumsy, dark sheets lined up in rooftop arrays on green homes and buildings. But what if they weren’t dark and clumsy — and what if they didn’t have to go on the roof? QSolar, the Canadian solar tech company that already brought us spray-on solar cells, has just released a new line of solar panels that are every bit as innovative. QSolar’s Kristal solar panels are available in an array of colors — red, green, blue, pink, grey — and they can replace windows or even walls, opening up new possibilities for green building design. Imagine your house with a colored solar panel atrium, or a pink and blue skylight mosaic set over your local library. How about a solar-powered desert cabin with green solar panel walls on every side, or a greenhouse made entirely of these innovative panels?

QSolar’s colored Kristal solar panels are semi-transparent and rigid, but they do not include frames. According to Andreas Tapakoudes, President and CEO of QSolar, “QSolar’s Kristal panels address the Building Integrated Photovoltaic Market (BIPV) which is expanding at a very rapid rate in Europe. The availability of coloured panels creates an even larger potential market for us because the Kristal panels enable architects and designers to implement a wide variety of building applications.”

The panels are designed to meet structural requirements for walls while generating energy from the sun. We can’t wait to see where this goes – energy-generating covered bridges, canopies, or solar carports may well be on their way.

Raoni : signature de la pétition contre le complexe de barrages de Belo Monte

Merci de soutenir le Chef Raoni et les populations indigènes du Xingù pour l'abandon définitif du projet de barrage de Belo Monte.

Je tiens à préciser que cette pétition à été signée par Mr Bernard Lavilliers en personne!!

Signer la pétition de Raoni contre le projet Belo Monte

Raoni: sign the petition against the complex of Belo Monte dams
Thank you for supporting the Chief Raoni and indigenous peoples of the Xingu to the final abandonment of the proposed Belo Monte Dams.

Sign the petition against the project Raoni Belo Monte

• Massive Energy-Generating Wind Tower Proposed for Japan

  Posted: Sun, 22 May 2011 17:34:05 +0000

  

  When considering wind power as an energy source, it’s best to think big. Japan-based ZENA Systems is working on developing a new type of wind energy generator that will dwarf anything before it. The 50 meter-tall hexagonal building essentially acts as a huge scoop that compresses wind from all directions and then runs the rushing air through a series of ground-based generators. The ambitious project is the first of its kind, and it includes a desalination plant, on-site energy storage, and a visitors center. Details are sketchy on the viability of the design, but if it works out this wind concept could someday reach high into the sky to power our grid.

  

  
  Read the rest of Massive Energy-Generating Wind Tower Proposed for Japan

• New Tensile Solar Shade by SMIT Will Juice Up Your Summer with Sun Power

  Posted: Fri, 20 May 2011 19:00:59 +0000

  

  Summer is coming folks, and what better way to spend a hot day than to lavish in the shade sipping your beverage of choice plugged into this sweet solar canopy? Soon the folks at SMIT will offer a solar shade that produces power and can be custom designed for a multitude of applications. The robust thin film solar technology can produce power under many different light conditions and when the shade becomes a bit too tattered it can be completely recycled. Tensile Solar can span just about anything in three different configurations and produce plenty of power for your daiquiri machine.

  

  
  Read the rest of New Tensile Solar Shade by SMIT Will Juice Up Your Summer with Sun Power

Inhabitat | An Idea to Eradicate Desertfication

May 18th, 2009

Inhabitat: Designed by Hwang Jin Wook, Jeon You Ho, Han Kuk II and Kim Ji Myung, Seedbombs are a way to dispense direct aid to areas of impending desertification. Each carrier shell fans out in flight to disperse multiple clear plant capsules containing both soil and seeds. Once the capsules land, the soil provides enough nutrients and moisture to allow the plant to become strong enough to sustain itself. As the plant matures, the capsules gradually melt away.
Admittedly the design is purely conceptual and there’s some serious considerations to work out – wouldn’t it be dangerous to local flora and fauna to carpet entire regions with a hail of seed-spewing pods? How best to mix up the distribution of plants to be sown?
Seedbomb Plant Capsules Combat Desertification [Inhabitat]

Cocoon-Like Vertical Bamboo Towers Are High Tech and Primitive at The Same Time
by Bridgette Meinhold, 03/24/11
filed under: Architecture, Sustainable Building

http://inhabitat.com/vertical-bamboo-towers-are-high-tech-and-primitive-at-the-same-time/

These towering vertical bamboo houses caught our eye with their impressive mix of natural and renewable materials with high tech engineering and design. Designed by Saint Val Architect, Bamboo Housing is an exploration into a new housing typology that breaks out of the box of traditional square homes. Bamboo poles and metal joints form the frame of the five story home with living quarters accessed by a central spiral staircase. We're intrigued by the concept, which is both primitive looking and high tech.

Green Design Will Save the World

How to Speed Up a Blog

How to Speed Up a Blog

Posted on 26/01/2011 by Lilium. Share post on 1 3 1

This was a question from the Muhammad, he asked:

What do you think is the best way to speed up a website? Do I need to change my blog theme or to do something else? I use a WordPress as my blogging platform.

If you want your question answered, feel free to send it via the contact form. I will be happy to help you out.

Thank you Mohammad for question, and here I will answer you how to “really” speed up your own blog. Of course, all these tips might work on any other WordPress installation, and all things can be applied to any website.

There is NO only one way!

It is important to know there is no one-way or a single thing that might improve your website speed. A successful speed is based upon the following things:

1. Optimization of your CSS and JavaScript files;


2. Using optimized theme layouts (frameworks);


3. Use some content delivery systems (CDN) to reduce load on your server;


4. Make your blog work better with a cached files.


5. Optimization of your blog images and file compression

Below, I will describe and tell you how to successfully apply any of these five things that might drastically improve your blog speed.

Optimize your CSS and JS Files

Most websites on internet uses CSS files to provide styles for their website design. JavaScript files are scripts that may give your website some additional functionality, like embedded sliders, image viewers, tabs support…

Each WordPress blog uses some of these files. And you would need to learn how to optimize them because of the following things:

• CSS and JavaScript files are loaded on most blog pages;


• They may have a large size… much larger than your HTML elements;


• JavaScript files can use a lot of resources on your server;


• Can cause you to use a lot more bandwidth than necessary

Optimizing of your CSS and JavaScript files will reduce your bandwidth and resource consumption. Allowing your visitors to load faster your blog.

Optimization is quite easy, and we have some specialized online tools that might do this work for you completely for free:

• Best online CSS optimization tools


• Online JavaScript optimization tools test

Most of your CSS and JavaScript files, required for optimization are directly accessible through FTP of your main blog theme.

Optimized theme Frameworks

Most professional blogs on internet already use some kind of advanced and fully-optimized frameworks for their themes.

Probably the most popular and the most effective professional WordPress theme frameworks are these two:

• Genesis Framework (from $59.95) and


• Thesis Framework (from $87.00)

Through they are paid frameworks, you would need to purchase them to install them on your own blog. And additionally pay some designer to do your theme design for these above frameworks.

A Theme framework is a Theme designed to be a flexible foundation for quicker WordPress development, usually serving as a robust Parent Theme for Child Themes. Some Theme frameworks can also make theme development more accessible, removing the need for programming or design knowledge with options pages. (source)

It is clear you would need to spend a lot of money if you want a top-quality theme frameworks. You would need to pay them for a framework, and additionally pay some designer to convert and optimize your theme.

But, fortunately, we have also some additional free frameworks. Which are less-quality than these professional ones, but certainly can work to drastically improve and optimize your blog theme layout:

• Twenty Ten – A very good and fast free theme framework. Official theme from WordPress team. Though have some compatibility issues on Internet Explorer web browsers. This blog is based on this framework.


• Ashford Framework – A very good theme framework for a modern WordPress blog. Have some very good features and options.


• The Buffet Framework – Designed not only for the theme developers who will be using the theme actions and filters to create the child themes, but also for the end users who would be able to add and remove what they want.

Theme frameworks are not developed for an absolute beginners. To edit them the way you want requires a lot of web codding work and knowledge in most cases.

Post Pages: 1 2

Related Posts:

1. Why Unique Blog Design is Good


2. Online JavaScript Optimization Tools: Live Examples and Tests


3. How to Successfully Speed Up your Website


4. Use Dropbox as Free CDN


5. Web Site Optimization Guide

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