Some of the worlds largest oil companies are beginning to really get serious (or so they say) about solar and other forms of alternative energy. Recently, Chevron created a website devoted to their implementation of solar and carbon footprint reduction of their operations worldwide. In fact, the site is laden with videos of their Vice Chairman Peter Robertson screwing in energy saving light bulbs, boasting about alternative energy and selling cheap auto insurance. Alright, he wasn’t trying to sell car insurance, but it would have been just as believable.

I find it interesting that all of the large oil companies are suddenly obsessed over alternative energy. I wonder if their lobbyists in Washington, DC are pushing the “alternatives” package or the incentives for “big oil” package. I also find it provocative that these “oil barons” would push a program that would lead their industry into obsolescence. 

In addition to the videos and images of CEO’s replacing light bulbs, there is a host of information about fossil fuel reserves, the human population as well as global demand projections. There is actually quite a lot of useful information on the site, I just question the motives behind it. 

Source: WillYouJoinUs

Having spent a great deal of time researching various solar gadgets and technology I have found some very interesting gadgets that appear to be solar in name only. Recently, I was reserching solar lighting accessories and stumbled onto a web page that sells designer “solar bath faucets”. Yeah, that’s right solar bath faucets! After conducting some “research” (reading further), I discovered that this product is merely a space-age inspired faucet that is trendy in design. As to whether or not the thing is solar powered seems obvious (no).

What really got me about the site was that they are marketing products as being “solar” when in fact they are not. The other thin gthat got me was the price tag. Would you spend $798.40 on a faucet? No, I didn’t thin so. Heck, I think the $60 Moen faucets are expensive enough and they aren’t even “solar”. I don’t know what the good folks at irawoods.com are thinking. Maybe there is something I am not seeing on their page, but I am having an awfully difficult time believing that their bathroom faucets are somehow solar powered. For that price they should come with solar panels for your home. Maybe that is it, maybe they come with panels or something? Just feels kind of like they are just slapping the name solar on it.

Source: IraWoods.com

Due to increased demand of alternative energy sources, there are a number of solar photovoltaic installers who are trying to streamline their businesses into a “national grid” of their own to increase implementation of the technology. I think it is pretty interesting that competitors would find a way to get together and come up with a solution for people across the nation who might want to implement this technology. 

If you have ever noticed, there are a whole smattering of individual companies across the country that install photovoltaic panels, but not one in particular who covers both Pacific and Atlantic as well as everything between (Granted, this isn’t spring plungers or something similarly benign). Recently, Wal-Mart in California began implementing kiosks in there stores to assist customers in locating contractors in their area with all the services they would need to install the systems. Well, I just learned that Real Goods Solar is working on a similar project that is to span the nation by bringing together different solar experts from all over into their database for their customers. Currently the company is covering mostly California, but may soon expand further East. 

Source: Real Good Solar