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Pitch

Incorperate Solar Cells into the upper twenty % of major buildings on the East and West sides in order to reduce energy grid consumption.


Description

Summary


Architects can incorporate building design to include solar paneling into the East and West sides or current buildings needing upgrades can put solar cells into the glass panels. Additionally an angled wedge design between floors could also provide additional square footage.

What we would eventually get is building with an angled panel system that can protrude between six inches at every floor up to a foot. The angle would allow for water to drain off as well as a better coverage area for sunlight. Other designs could have the glass panes incorporate into it providing energy to storage systems for L.E.D lighting at night as well as emergency lighting.

As temperatures rise, parking lots would need to be covered with shade and paneling can be put on top to reduce the sun damage to automobiles. Existing parking garages could have side and roof paneling as well. This would reduce internal heat and absorb energy to be placed back into the grid or reduce energy consumption at night. Power plant strain would then be reduced.

Additional benefits such as reduced cosmetic maintenance on cars would allow longer lifespan of the vehicle as well as the heat reduction on the cars when parked would allow longer battery life, paint clear coat and interior damage would be reduced.

The square footage of roofs in the US for apartment complexes and homes as well as businesses is astounding. Its not being utilized and just absorbs heat causing electricity demands for cooling to climb. Paneling could provide shade and electricity for storage that could then be used at night to power lighting. This combined with small turbines would be a constant source and reduce the overall demand.

As time goes by, sky scrapers can be upgraded, competition for more efficient as well as better quality paneling and imbedded solar cell design in the souther US would reduce the effects on our ozone as the demand for fossil fuel energy would be reduced. Also this would create jobs in manufacturing.


Category of the action

Building efficiency: Physical Action


What actions do you propose?

The government could provide incentives to investors or businesses that make use of this. Buildings that use this in the upgrades will get a tax break or incentive as well. The power companies could also reduce the cost of energy to those feeding back into the grid or have a lower average consumption at peak hours of the day.

Solar panel companies that build plants in the south and provide quality and efficient panel technology could be given incentive to provide these products. In turn, competition for government contracts in order to place these on federal and state buildings would also bring the cost of the paneling or designs down.

Jobs would be created for laborers to build them, install and maintain them.

The manufacturer of these panels or embedded solar cells in building design would require facilities to build them. One of the reasons for pollution is the increasing demand for automobiles by employees in order to get to and from work.

The added problem is that many employees live far from their employers. What if companies had housing built nearby and provided shuttles to the appartment complexes so employees would be able to get work on time, have more time spent at home and less timein traffic in their vehicles.

The housing could be offered at a lower rate and be optional but those who use it would save money and use their vehicles less. This housing could also have solar paneling on the roofs and in the covered parking areas.

If people were living closer and driving less distance to work, spending less time in their cars in traffic they would have more time to be with their families or enjoying themselves when not at work.Having a place to live and more money for other things would improve their quality of life as well.

Many people cant find work because they cant get to the location they need to work, they cant afford a place to live or a car to travel. By providing onsite housing similar to what colleges do today, they could now have jobs and afford to live a better quality of life. The businesses could also have small stores or other ways to allow employees to put their money back into the company. This would all be a choice of course.

regulations, standards would need to be set in order to avoid slums or low quality housing. Employees would have to follow a standard of conduct when living onsite of course but this would improve overall employee production, attendance and their moral. Younger, unmarried or those without children would benefit the most from this.

 


Who will take these actions?

A cooperation of the Federal , State as well the larger corporations would be needed. Incentives for those who participate would need to be worth the effort.

Power companies could also work together to allow them to reduce wwear and tear as well as improve efficiency so they can extend the life of their power facilities and provide for the demand without struggling to keep up, stay within the guide lines for pollution control.  


Where will these actions be taken?

Primarily in the southern states that have the higher temperatures and sunlight through out the year.

Cities that are more widely spread out such as San Antonio could make use of this as they amount of square footage dedicated to the roofs of building is high. This city and other like it grow out instead of up so this leaves a lot of wasted space that could be utilized by solar energy equipment.


How much will emissions be reduced or sequestered vs. business as usual levels?

I would imagine that the emissions would be reduced significantly over time as older buildings are upgraded and new building are designed to incorporate solar energy into them. Additionally as the demand for better solar technology increases the more efficient they would become. If on average the solar energy supplements even 15 to 20 percent of the energy demand and increases over time as technology becomes more efficient we could see dramatic changes in how we use that energy. L.E.D lighting alone would reduce heat internally in buildings and reduce energy demands.


What are other key benefits?

Incentive to improve technology due to demand for more efficient products. Jobs creation for manufacturing, maintenance and research & development.

Competition among new manufacturers. Oh and plus we save our mortal lives from exstinction.


What are the proposal’s costs?

the cost would of course be the upfront push to get older buildings upgraded. The cost of the solar cells upfront for install and demand for qualified installers and maintenance could be a drawback at first. If you present the fact that long term energy cost and the rising demand for energy vs the short term cost and eventual payoff later, this could give investors the over all benefit they are looking for.

combining solar energy with other sources such as small turbines on the roofs of buildings could in the long run provide a more stable energy and lower demand for finite energy from coal or oil.


Time line


This could be slow at first and take 5 to 10 years to implement as manufacturing plants would need to be built and production put under way for the solar cells but the injection of the jobs to create these facilities would improve the US economy as these would need to be made in the U.S. This could boost our overall moral to be providing a quality product within our borders as well as jobs.

As time goes on we would only get faster at this and production and demand would stabilize. Within 20 to 30 years current building could be upgraded and newer building would be designed with them already in place. The time frame would be dependent only on our Federal and state government to get the ball rolling.


Related proposals

This all ties into reducing our ozone, reducing power plant demands and improving our countries overall production of US made quality products and ideas.


References