Demand Response is an increasingly popular component in addressing our nation’s aging electrical grid. Currently a fragmented market, Demand Response will be experiencing consolidation and growth as more businesses implement programs to achieve cost reduction and energy savings.
The California Energy Commission is currently seeking applicants for their Energy Innovations Small Grant Program (EISG). EISG provides up to $95,000 for hardware projects and $50,000 for modeling projects to small businesses, non-profits, individuals, and academic institutions researching the feasibility of new, innovative energy concepts.
We’re doing a remodeling project which includes installing a new roof. Here in California, we get a lot of sun, so the impact of solar irradiance on solar heat gain is a major concern — either for A/C costs (and thus peak summer energy loads) or on comfort (for those of us who don’t have A/C). Thus, I’ve been looking into solar reflectivity and what has been called the “cool roofs“ movement. There is the Cool Roof Rating Council, “created in 1998 to develop accurate and credible methods for evaluating and labeling the solar reflectance and thermal emittance (radiative properties) of roofing products and to disseminate the information to all interested parties.”
