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Florida’s once-lucrative solar rebates are done. No more. Finito. Due to a cumbersome budget deficit, the state legislature allowed the $4-per-watt rebate for solar power systems to expire on June 30th. It’s sad. Everybody regrets it. Nobody wished for it. But can we not roll with the changes? Can’t the Sunshine State just move along to greener (if not so sunny) pastures?

Well, no, says the IRS. And NO! says a group of Floridians who installed solar systems while the rebate was still alive but are still waiting for their check.

The situation in Florida is rather odd. On the one hand, we have the auditor, the IRS, which in a recent letter slammed the state for misspending Recovery Act dollars on the ailing solar rebate program — to the tune of $8.3 million. On the other are a group of homeowners who were approved for state rebates, paid for their solar systems up-front, and have yet to receive a dime.

According to the NBC2 News in Port Charlotte, the state still owes $40 million in rebate checks to solar homeowners, but has no apparent state financing to pay it. Meanwhile, Florida still has $112 million in federal stimulus funding, but according to the IRS, cannot use it.

To clarify, the IRS is alleging that Florida used the $8 million-plus stimulus dollars to pay for rebates that were approved before the Recovery Act was even passed. The state of Florida says the feds should not be surprised, as they gave the state permission to use the money in that way upon delivery. The IRS says that stimulus funds are intended to create new or save existing green jobs, and paying homeowners rebates for projects that are complete and thus hold no new job prospects in no way conforms to those intentions.

And while Big and Little Brother squabble, $40 million worth of solar systems and their owners are caught in the middle, many roiling in solar-disenfranchisement. You would hope that the solar homeowners in question, who themselves may have gone up to $30,000 or more into debt to finance their systems, will eventually be paid what their state promised. The question is when? Monthly energy savings are great, and I imagine most are happily enjoying significantly lower utility bills, but a decent return on investment for home solar power is still largely dependent upon rebates and incentives.

While it may not help the rebate-hungry homeowners, perhaps Florida could use some of that $112 million in stimulus funds, which it must spend by April 2012, to launch a new rebate program that would create new jobs and advance solar power in one of America’s sunniest states. It certainly would not purport to be as lucrative as its predecessor, but anything is better than nothing (solar costs are dropping anyhow), and Florida solar installers are already contemplating moves to more solar-friendly, less IRS-ire-inducing states like Georgia and South Carolina.

Source: NBC-2.com
Photo Credit: Florida.uk

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Coal is transported all around United States by train; according to figures almost 70% of coal in 2007 was transported around United States through railroad. Barges and trucks contribution for coal transportation is 11% while rest is delivered mainly by tramway, conveyor belt, or slurry pipeline.

Sometime coal is transported great distances. Such as, Powder River Basin coal is transported by rail to power plants as far away as Georgia. It travels a long way as far as the distance from Wyoming to Georgia.

To save the money from coal transportation costs there is a common way that using coal near the coal-mines. As soon as the coal is mined it’s delivered immediately to power plant through conveyor belt. Such plants are called “mine mouth” plants. The growing presence of mine mouth plants had eased by expanding use of long distance electricity transmission.

Before transportation of coal to a long distance it under goes a process of preparation to lower shipping costs and facilitate use in power plants. Crushing of coal and removing heavy, extraneous non-coal materials are included in coal preparation. If there is a sulfur contamination in the coal or any other impurity then it washed with a water or chemical, removing up to 40 percent of inorganic sulfur in the coal.

It’s not like that all type of coal is prepared in same way. Commonly Eastern coal is washed to meet environmental regulations, while low-sulfur Western coal typically is crushed and resized without being washed.

Unfortunately there is a drawback of coal washing, because the contaminants and non-coal material removed during washing have to go somewhere, so normally that results into large waste reservoirs. In 2002, almost 25% of the raw coal going into washing plants were left behind as waste.

Technorati Tags: coal Energy,Coal,reservoirs,sulfur

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It has been reported that the scientists in Georgia and New Jersey are busy in devising ways to take off the solar panels from the roofs of homes and cars, and moving them into basements and walls.

This will enable the homeowners to decorate their rooftops however they want, as the new panels would continuously provide solar power while protecting the delicate photovoltaic cells.

Zhong Wang, a scientist at Georgia Tech said that this might be the world’s first 3-D solar panel system.

The scientists at Georgia Tech are aiming to capture sunlight by using fiber optics cable instead of the traditional solar panels. They will then turn it into electricity by using the optics cables, coated with zinc oxide.

Although the fiber optic cables would be installed on the roof of a house, car or any other structure, but only the very tip of the cables would be exposed to the outside environment.

Sunlight will enter the tip of the fiber and travel to the end. It will then be absorbed and turned into electrical energy along the way. Once the light reaches the end of the fiber, it will bounce back, giving the zinc oxide another chance to absorb any light missed during the first pass.

The fibers can be cut to any length depending on the needs of the user. A 10-centimeter (four-inch) fiber would conservatively generate about 0.5 volts.

In order to power a 10-watt light bulb, about 10,000 fibers, each about 10 centimeters (four inches) long would be required. Although it might sound like a lot of fibers, but it’s about the same size as a small handful of human hair.

However, the fibers aren’t very efficient. Currently, they are only able to convert about 3.3 percent of all the light that enters them into electricity. On other hand, the silicon-based solar cells can absorb 30 percent of light.

The scientists are hopeful that further work could get his number up to 8 percent.

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