itHouse; Smart-grid access to EV batteries; Solar Roadways get funding; Installing Solar, One Panel at a Time; Using smart meters & twitter to monitor energy use

itHouse – off-grid prefab with style and substance The eco-friendly home is comprised of a series components manufactured off-site. The home, which is designed to be flat packed and easily shipped, is prefabricated to better control the construction waste, labor, and quality of the finished product. Stunning…absolutely stunning.

Make money by granting the smart-grid access to EV batteries? Interesting concept, but hope that wouldn’t be why people switched to EV’s!

Solar Roadways get funding from DOT The solar road technology that promises to produce clean electricity, replace power transmission and information infrastructure, requires no plowing and lights up to provide navigational and safety information is about to go from the drawing board to prototype production. The Department of Transport has seen fit to award the project $100,000 to construct the first 12′ by 12′ panel.

Installing Solar, One Panel at a Time One way to bring the initial costs down would be to put smaller arrays on homes. After all, if financial constraints are a consideration, why put dozens of panels on your home when you could put just one or two? Enphase Energy, a company based in California, has shipped 50,000 microinverters since last August, according to Raghu Belur, one of the company’s founders. Each costs about $200, and can be paired with a single solar panel and popped on the roof.

University of Mississippi Uses Smart Meters & Twitter To Provide Updates The University of Mississippi plans to reduce campus power consumption with the recent installation of smart meters at 16 of the school’s buildings to monitor, analyze, and report on energy utilization. The school will publish daily energy updates for the general public using Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds.