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12 hours ago In the future, photovoltaic facility construction firms besides Siemens will be able to benefit from the layout planning software PVplanet. Siemens offers technical consulting along with the software in order to help customers plan customized and optimally cost-effective photovoltaic facility layouts. Siemens Energy developed PVplanet in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics (ITWM) and Siemens Corporate Technology in order to plan their own photovoltaic facilities more efficiently. Even for installations that only generate a few megawatts, the use of this tool is worthwhile. In a recent example, PVplanet helped to reduce the power generation costs of a planned solar park by six percent.

From now on, photovoltaic facility construction firms besides Siemens can benefit from the layout planning software PVplanet. Siemens offers technical consulting along with the software in order to help customers plan customized and optimally cost-effective photovoltaic facility layouts.

Siemens Energy developed PVplanet in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics (ITWM) and Siemens Corporate Technology in order to plan their own photovoltaic facilities more efficiently. This planning tool was recently made available to facility construction firms outside the company. Even for installations that only generate a few megawatts, the use of this tool is worthwhile. In a recent example, PVplanet helped to reduce the power generation costs of a planned solar park by six percent. Power generation costs are defined as the total cost per kilowatt hour of generated electricity. If this park is built according to the layout designed using PVplanet, it will achieve an additional yield of 350 megawatt hours per year, compared to the original plan. This patented planning tool optimizes the layout of a solar park by taking into consideration a variety of parameters such as location, weather data, distance between the panels, and their angle of inclination, as well as investment costs and anticipated output.

The software generates hundreds of layouts for a given facility within a few seconds. The planner can then compare the advantages and disadvantages of each variation and select the best solution. Without this type of assistance, planners would only be able to work out and compare a few layouts (if any) at this level of detail, due to time constraints.

Since it was first introduced in 2012, PVplanet has been enhanced with several options. The developers presented a comparison of block planning and individual planning at last year's EU PVSEC photovoltaic conference in Paris. This comparison investigated whether it was more cost-effective to cover a given area with standardized solar panel blocks at a relatively low cost or to use more "fine-grained" and time-consuming planning to take the best possible advantage of a particular site.

The dependence of output on the weather is also considered. Probable outputs are an important parameter for calculating the risk inherent in the business model; thus they are part of the basis on which insurers and investors make decisions. PVplanet takes these uncertainties into account at the planning stage and shows the different levels of impact that fluctuations in the weather would have on various layouts. Planners can then, for example, select the layout that offers the most robust earnings or the one that offers the highest earnings potential.

Explore further: Renewable sources can provide stable power

The photovoltaics industry is booming, and the market for solar farms is growing quickly all over the world. Yet, the task of planning PV power plants to make them as effi cient as possible is far from trivial. ...

Renewable energy sources - an area in which Germany is a leader - are becoming increasingly important for the worldwide power mix. Nevertheless, experts are still deliberating which market model is best for ...

Siemens has developed an energy-storage system that can act as a buffer in electrical power grids. The aim is to provide a buffer against short-term fluctuations in output from renewable energy sources. Such ...

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Planning extremely cost-effective solar parks

12 hours ago by Patchen Barss Professor Matt Ratto with a conventional prosthetic (at left) and (at right) one printed by his lab. Credit: Ginger Coons

A University of Toronto lab is partnering with an international NGO and a Ugandan hospital to use 3-D scanning and printing to speed the process of creating and fitting sockets for artificial limbs.

While three-dimensional printing has been around for some time, a new generation of fast, cheap 3-D printers offers up a world of possibilities for highly-customized products.

Prosthetic limbs are a natural application for the technology. Although they can be mass-produced, prostheses must be customized to suit a recipient's individual physiology. Traditional assessing and fitting procedures take many days or weeks, and require specialized knowledge of an on-site prosthetic technician.

"The major issue with prosthetics in the developing world is not access to the materials of prosthetics; it is access to the expert knowledge required to form and create them," says Matt Ratto, a professor in the Faculty of Information. "We're lacking prosthetic technicians, not prosthetics themselves."

Today, though, a 3-D scan of a Ugandan's residual limb can be sent within seconds to another part of the world where a prosthetist can digitally design a replacement, sending that file back to Africa to be printed. Printers are increasingly sophisticated, capable of using a wide range of resins and polymers to create three-dimensional objects.

The implications of such a system are many, but one is the capacity to make a prosthesis in less than 24 hours. For many Ugandans, speed is more than a matter of convenience; it's the difference between getting a prosthetic limb or not.

"The underserved population is largely rural," said ginger coons (who spells her name in lower-case), a PhD student in Ratto's lab. "People have to come to the hospital. Not many can afford the long stay. We want to make their stay a lot shorter."

Ratto and coons hope that what they learn from the Uganda project will help them develop similar solutions in other parts of the world.

Their research also explores the increasing blurriness between physical and virtual realms. While the loss of a leg and its replacement with an artificial limb are fundamentally bodily experiences, the body scans and prosthetic designs are digital.

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Using 3D printers to create prosthetic limbs for Ugandans

Gang Beasts Test #7 - Window Cleaning Gondolas
Experimenting with permanently suspended window-cleaning scaffolds as battle arenas. Follow us and find out more about the game at: http://indiedb.com/games/...

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So you want a pure water window cleaning system

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So you want a pure water window cleaning system - Video

Residential Snow Removal as a Add on Service

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As winter settles in, NorthWestern Energy is offering free home energy audits that can help customers save money on their utility bills.

As part of NorthWesterns E+ program, a team of energy experts will be working in Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley the week of Jan. 27-31. The team has a number of openings for the audits, which provide a detailed report on a homes energy use, weatherization tips and information on energy-efficient practices. In some cases, the experts may, at no charge, install water-heater wraps, low-flow shower heads, low-flow faucet aerators and insulation of hot-water pipes.

The auditors will also inspect natural gas-fueled appliances and perform blower tests to spot areas of air leakage in homes.

Audit appointments are available in Missoula, Lolo, Stevensville, Corvallis, Victor, Florence, Hamilton and Clinton.

The free audits can be scheduled by calling 1-800-823-5995.

Residential customers whose space or hot water heating fuels are delivered by NorthWestern Energy, have not had an E+ audit in the past and whose home is more than five years old are eligible for an on-site energy audit. Other restrictions may apply and funding for the audit program, provided by the Universal System Benefits program, is limited.

Reach the Missoulian newsroom at @missoulian, at newsdesk@missoulian.com or at (406) 523-5240

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NorthWestern Energy to perform free energy audits in Missoula, Bitterroot

In June 2013, Leesburg Concrete Company, Incorporated (LCCI) became the newest member of the Easi-Set Buildings producer network. LCCI produces the buildings in their Leesburg, Florida NPCA certified plant.

By Sept. 14th, 2013 they had built and installed two buildings and won their first award at the Annual Easi-Set Building Producers Seminar for the precast concrete restroom building pictured above. The Sierra Dry, an ADA compliant, vault restroom building was delivered fully-assembled to 4 park locations in Lake County, Florida by year end 2013. To date Leesburg Concrete Company, Incorporated has won contracts for 19 buildings.

Easi-Set Buildings

Fabricated as separate wall, roof and floor panels, Easi-Set Buildings, Easi-Span ultra-large buildings and Easi-Set restrooms, feature a patented post-tensioning system in the roof and floor, a turn-down roof that caps the walls, and a step-down floor panel to eliminate the possibility of water migration into the building along the bottom of the wall panels. Easi-Set Buildings are virtually maintenance free, are available in a variety of sizes and finishes, and are fully customizable. They are typically assembled at the plant, delivered to the customer's site and installed on a gravel pad or concrete slab in a matter of hours.

Leesburg Concrete Company, Incorporated

Family owned and operated since 1983, Leesburg Concrete Company, Incorporated a leading manufacturer of precast concrete ADA compliant modular precast concrete wheelchair ramps, steps, decks, walkways, and landings. Their metal fabrication department produces steel stair stringers, metal treads, step rails and ramp rails, guard rails, and handrails. Within the last several years they began producing architectural precast cladding panels and precast concrete stairs. LCCI also offers a wide array of custom precast product options. "We take pride in exceeding our customer's expectations," stated Kirk Rouse, Vice President of LCCI. This American, family-owned company demonstrates a philosophy of quality and innovation.

Leesburg Concrete Company, Incorporated is focused on meeting the needs of commercial, public and government building construction projects. Their experienced staff provides turnkey service, and it only takes one call to find the solution to your building needs. For more information visit their website, http://www.leesburgconcrete.com, call (800) 882-4177, or e-mail KRouse@leesburgconcrete.com.

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Leesburg Concrete Company, Incorporated, New Licensee, Wins Award

1 Solution Tree Removal
Call us for an estimate: 704-500-4602.

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Children #39;s Foundation - 2014 Trees For Tots Guelph
O Christmas Tree! Our Community Thanks Thee Setting up your Christmas Tree is a wonderful experience for most families. The Children #39;s Foundation of Guelph a...

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City of Cedar Rapids worker Dave Elsbury gathers logs into a log loader after an ash tree was cut down at 5616 D Avenue NW in Cedar Rapids in February 2010. 300 ash trees were cut down by the city to try and prevent the Emerald Ash Borer infestation. (Julie Koehn/The Gazette)

Its part of the citys winter landscape now.

City forestry crews on Monday began their winter ash tree removal effort, a program in its fifth year and designed to take down old, declining ash trees in the citys right of way along city streets and replace them with a mix of other tree species.

Ash trees taken down now will mean fewer to take down once the ash killer, the emerald ash borer, shows itself in the city.

Todd Fagan, Cedar Rapids city arborist, on Monday estimated that 18 to 30 percent or 12,000 to 20,000 of the trees in the citys right of way are ashes.

The citys proactive removal program, which started in 2010, has removed and replaced between 1,000 and 1,200 ashes with the plan in the next three months to take down up to another 200.

Craig Hanson, the citys public works maintenance manager, on Monday said the citys number of ash trees in the city right of way probably peaked a decade ago after the emerald ash borer first starting killing ash trees in the Detroit area and the city stopped planting ash trees here. Hanson estimated that the city today has 2,500 fewer ash trees in its right of way than it had a decade ago because of trees taken down from storms and those taken down with the citys ash removal program.

Fagan said he believes that the killer ash borer has arrived in Cedar Rapids now, but it so far has eluded discovery, which is typical of the insects arrival in a community.

In recent months, the killer insect has been found in Mechanicsville in Cedar County, just east of Cedar Rapids and Linn County, and in Creston, southwest of Des Moines. Previously, it was found in two spots in Allamakee County in far northeast Iowa and in Burlington and Fairfield in southeast Iowa.

Its all around us, Fagan said. So to think theres no way its not in Cedar Rapids is not really a responsible way to go about things. But theres no reason to lose our cool.

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Ash borer makes tree removal part of typical Cedar Rapids winter