Renewable Energy

Access to clean drinking water is a significant problem for the developing world, and solar power might just be the solution. Today’s solar news could be game changing for those without clean water. A French company, HelioWater, has created a device that takes sea water and turns it into clean drinking water using the power of the sun ☀️. This method uses evaporation, condensation, and mineralization to filter the water. HelioWater’s device is powered by a large solar panel at the base, making

Portugal is making the switch to solar. But not in the way that you’d think. Portugal has installed 12,000 panels on top of a lake. Specifically, the Alquenva reservoir – a human made water source that’s already being used for hydropower. So yeah, this move is pretty extra (in the best way 🕺🏽). These panels will produce 87.5 gigawatt/hours of electricity a year, and are paired with lithium batteries to supply 1,500 families with power in the neighboring towns of Moura and Portel. However, w

Architecture students just created a game-changing solar greenhouse. At the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, masters’ students built a greenhouse. This isn’t any old greenhouse though. This greenhouse is 130 square foot (that is two stories 🤭), and produces its own food and electricity. The LED lights help produce vegetables, and the irrigation system waters them. Both of these processes are entirely run off of the solar panels from the greenhouse’s roof. Running these system

Solar Panels, Bees, and Sheep - oh my! Did you know that all three of these can live in harmony? Wildgrid has yet ANOTHER exciting update for the relationship between animals and solar energy (yes we make more articles like this 😏 check our sheep article out here *HYPERLINK). In the Spanish town of Carmona, ~2.5 million bees coexist alongside sheep and other plants in the middle of a solar facility. This project is called “Solar Apiary” and is run by the Endesa Energy company. This is also

Solar energy at nighttime? Sounds counterintuitive but its the exciting future kickstarted by a team of engineers at Stanford University! An electrical engineer and their colleagues at Stanford created a solar cell. However, what set this solar cell apart from the traditional devices we’ve seen in the past, is its thermoelectric generator (we know – it’s a mouthful!). This generator uses the heat difference between the solar panel and the air around it and turns it into electricity. This is an

It's nothing personal, we promise! You were excited to go solar, matched with a community solar farm... and then, were rejected. Why couldn't you sign up? Here are a few reasons why this may have happened: 1. The solar farm filled up too quickly! Someone else beat you to the last open spot. 2. Your electricity usage was higher than the amount of space they had left on the farm. Don't worry, we've got more matches for ya. Log back into Wildgrid and subscribe to another available farm. H

Renting an apartment can make solar feel out of reach, but what if we told you solar for renters was possible - with or without a renewable-friendly landlord? (Really!) Let's talk about the ways that apartment renters can go solar. Option #1: Convince your landlord Sure, it may seem like an impossible task, but apartment renters can go (and have gone!) solar by convincing their landlords to adopt solar! As we explained in our How to go solar, 5 ways post, both residential and commercial sola

The short answer: Solar panels are made up of silicon solar cells that create electricity when sunlight hits them. The long answer: Here are 5 things to know about how solar panels work. 1: Solar cells are made of silicon * Solar cells are those blue or black squares you see inside a solar panel. * The same material that computer chips are made of (think "Silicon Valley") * Silicon, not silicone :) 2: There are 2 main types of solar cells * Polycrystalline: This means the solar cel

Have you made it to page 15 of Google’s “how to go solar” results and still feel overwhelmed? Don’t worry - we’ve all been there. Luckily, solar isn’t as intimidating as it seems and there are so many different ways to go solar. (Spoiler alert: they don’t even all include solar panel installation!) Let us show you how to go solar, 5 ways! Whether you own a home, rent an apartment, or live on a sailboat... you can go solar. Here's how: Option #1: Residential Solar If you conjure an image of

Imagine: you’ve installed solar. You’ve had a run of gorgeous, sunny days outside and everything’s been working perfectly. Suddenly, a week of stormy, cloudy spring days rolls through. There’s not enough sun to power your solar array. Enter: solar battery storage. The short and sweet version of this story is that solar batteries store the excess power generated from extra-sunny days to be used during those not-so-sunny days. Want to know more? Let’s dig in. What’s a solar battery? Solar ba

We here at Wildgrid are firmly anti-spam and realize the process of getting solar quotes needs a major overhaul. The solar process is stale - let's freshen it up together!

Rooftop solar not for you? Community solar is a way to support local clean energy sources without buying expensive solar panels for your roof.