Making Watergate “Look Like Child’s Play”: The Solyndra Discourse (2011–2012) as Flak

In analyzing the distinction between flak and scandal, this investigation focuses on the discourse around Solyndra in 2011–2012 on two media platforms. Solyndra was a solar panel firm that went bankrupt after receiving American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (‘The Stimulus’) funds. The analysis shows that National Review—a rightwing journal of opinion that increasingly operates as an online platform—unswervingly utilized the Solyndra bankruptcy as an instrument of political combat. Following flak lines rehearsed by Republicans in congressional hearings, National Review narrated Solyndra as scandalous evidence of the Obama administration’s putative ineptitude and/or criminality that, moreover, discredited the efficacy of green energy. The performance of the mainstream newspaper The Washington Post presented a grab-bag mix as its objective methods insinuated flak packaged as scandal into stories when they followed Republican talking points. At the same time, The Washington Post’s discourse noted that no evidence of administration corruption was discovered despite extensive investigation and that government intervention into the economy is often highly beneficial.

Download Full-text

Chinese Soft Power and Green Energy Investment in the Greater Middle East

Sociology of Islam ◽

10.1163/22131418-00402008 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 4 (1-2) ◽

pp. 59-72

Author(s):

Juan R. I. Cole

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

United Arab Emirates ◽

Soft Power ◽

World Market ◽

Green Energy ◽

Solar Panel ◽

Chinese Government ◽

Labor Costs ◽

Energy Investment ◽

Wide Range

Green energy investment is one avenue through with the Chinese government is beginning to create a new relationship with the Middle East. Chinese solar panel firms have research and production advantages in the world market, but face rising labor costs at home. The Communist Party under Xi Jinping has pursued two major policies, “Go out!” and “One Road, One Belt.” The first refers to Chinese firms creating factories abroad to benefit from cheap labor and from local low-tariff trade blocs. China will therefore set up solar panel factories in the United Arab Emirates and in Morocco. Both countries have strong national commitments to renewable energy, but also have access to a wide range of export markets. This sort of investment changes China’s relationship to the region from being one of buying hydrocarbons to a much more intensive set of interactions, including acting as employer for local labor.

Download Full-text

Research and Application of PV Intelligent Control System of Sustainable Supply

Key Engineering Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.620.193 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 620 ◽

pp. 193-199

Author(s):

Zhong Xian Wang ◽

Yong Geng Wei ◽

Yi Lin Song

Keyword(s):

Control System ◽

Power Supply ◽

Output Voltage ◽

Low Voltage ◽

Primary Energy ◽

Green Energy ◽

Solar Panel ◽

Good Effect ◽

Intelligent Control System ◽

Uninterrupted Power Supply

As the primary energy consumption and environmental pollution increasing seriously, green energy has been more and more got attention of researchers both at home and abroad, especially the study of solar occupies a large proportion in the development of green energy. The photovoltaic (PV) power supply system has many advantages, however, there are still problems, e.g. low voltage, low power, poor ability to resist disturbance. Around these problems, the paper designed a PV power supply control system could realize the uninterrupted power supply, including DC and AC supply. By the method of combining software with hardware, through the solar panel to the configured two pieces of battery could realize the function of fast and float charging, and the supply battery is changed by testing the battery power to load uninterrupted power supply. Moreover, when the output voltage of the solar panel is lower than the battery, the output voltage of solar panel is boosted by DC/DC circuit to make the solar panel at low pressures also to charge the battery, effectively solving the difficult solar energy in the weak power supply problem. Finally, the design of PV power supply control system not only could realize DC supply, and also AC power supply by SPWM method, which has good effect of power supply.

Download Full-text

An Investigation into Conversion of a Fleet of Plug-in-Electric Golf Carts into Solar Powered Vehicles Using Fuzzy Logic Control

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14175536 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (17) ◽

pp. 5536

Author(s):

Wafaa Saleh ◽

Shekaina Justin ◽

Ghada Alsawah ◽

Areej Malibari ◽

Maha M A Lashin

Keyword(s):

Fuzzy Logic ◽

Solar Energy ◽

Operating Cost ◽

Energy Generation ◽

Green Energy ◽

Solar Panel ◽

Energy Calculation ◽

Solar Panels ◽

The Cost ◽

Golf Carts

This paper presents an investigation factors that need to be considered in the design and selection of components for the conversion of a fleet of plug-in electric golf carts at Princess Nourah Bint Abdelrahman University, (PNU), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), into solar power energy. Currently, the plug-in electric golf carts are powered by a set of deep-cycle lead-acid battery packs consisting of six units. Solar energy systems (photovoltaics and solar thermal) provide significant environmental benefits and opportunities over the traditional and conventional sources. Therefore, they can contribute positively to many aspects of the built environment and societies. There are many factors that affect the energy generated from the solar panel system. These include type and dimension of the solar panels, weight, speed, acceleration, and other characteristics of the used golf carts, and the energy efficiency of the solar energy system, as main factors that affect the green energy generated to operate the carts. The energy values needed to power the electric cart were calculated and optimized using traction energy calculation and optimized using a fuzzy logic analysis. The fuzzy logic system was developed to assess the impacts of varying dimensions of solar panel, vehicle speed, and weight on the energy generation. Initial calculations show that the replacement cost of the batteries can be up to approximately 75 percent of the operating cost. Together with the indirect cost benefits of achieving zero tail-pipe emission and the comfort of silent operation, the cost of operation using solar energy can be significant when compared with the cost of battery replacement. In order to achieve better efficiency, supercapacitors can be investigated to replace the conventional batteries. The use of fuzzy logic successfully facilitated the optimization of system operation conditions for best performance. In this study, fuzzy logic and calculated data were used as an optimization tool. Future work may be able to use fuzzy logic with experimental data to demonstrate feasibility of utilizing fuzzy logic systems to assess energy generation processes. Future investigations could also include investigation of other factors and methodologies, such as various types of batteries, supercapacitors, solar panels, and types of golf carts, together with different techniques of artificial intelligence to assess the optimum system specifications.

Download Full-text

Automatic Monitoring of Photovoltaic Cells Performance on Solar Aircraft

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.225.356 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 225 ◽

pp. 356-360

Author(s):

Zulhilmy Sahwee ◽

Halil Husain ◽

Muhd Khairulzaman Abdul Kadir ◽

Mohamad Fiteri Razali ◽

Mohamad Zikri Zainol ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Power Output ◽

Alternative Energy ◽

Automatic Monitoring ◽

Green Energy ◽

Solar Panel ◽

Energy Resources ◽

Matched Load ◽

Photovoltaic Panel ◽

Hybrid Energy ◽

Alternative Energy Resources

The development towards the usage of green energy sources is currently a major concern in today’s lifestyle due to the limited supply of fossil-based energy. Many have turned to alternative energy resources that are less polluting to the environment. Replacement of the vehicle’s fuel-based engine to an electric-based engine by using alternative or hybrid energy is one of the possible paths that many studies are conducted. In the aviation field, harvesting solar energy by using solar panel to charge aircraft on-board batteries could reduce the dependency on fuel. As with any other energy conversion technology, the solar panel performance needs to be monitored so that the power output can always be maintained at maximum available power. This paper presents a research and development of a system to monitor the health of photovoltaic panel installed on aircraft by measuring its voltage and current. The measurement is conducted using low power microcontroller. The system is capable to automatically measure the output of every solar panel installed in the system by connecting them with a matched load during the measurement process. The power output is then compared to the initial values prior to installation to determine how much power is currently being generated. By knowing the actual power output of each solar panel, less efficient or defective panel can be identified and replaced during maintenance. The system can be implemented not only for an aircraft but also applicable to other system that uses solar panel as their energy resources.

Download Full-text

A CAD/Mechatronic Solar Panel Tracking Student Design Project

Volume 4: Advanced Manufacturing Processes; Biomedical Engineering; Multiscale Mechanics of Biological Tissues; Sciences, Engineering and Education; Multiphysics; Emerging Technologies for Inspection ◽

10.1115/esda2012-82569 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

A. D. Spence ◽

T. Kenyon ◽

D. A. Sawula ◽

L. Balan ◽

W. M. Mohammed

Keyword(s):

Computer Aided Design ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Green Energy ◽

Solar Panel ◽

Project Completion ◽

Sustainable Technologies ◽

Hands On ◽

Successful Team ◽

Team Project ◽

Aided Design

The increasing engineering accreditation program requirements for outcome based assessment, combined with emphasis on green energy and other sustainable technologies, prompted introduction of a solar panel tracking project within a senior product design course. Recognizing that the course is offered to students with mechanical engineering as well as software engineering (mechatronics) backgrounds, technical aspects emphasized three dimensional Computer Aided Design (CAD), rapid prototyping, and basic microcontroller interface electronics and programming. Mixed teams including students from both backgrounds were mandatory. This paper reports observations after three course offerings. In particular, it is noted that a paradigm shift away from lectures to hands-on development laboratories is needed, but formal laboratory milestones and submission deadlines remain essential for successful team project completion.

Download Full-text

Reconfigurable 3-PRS Parallel Solar Tracking Stand

Volume 5B: 41st Mechanisms and Robotics Conference ◽

10.1115/detc2017-67275 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Zhongxing Yang ◽

Dan Zhang

Keyword(s):

Parallel Manipulator ◽

Green Energy ◽

Solar Panel ◽

Optimized Design ◽

High Stiffness ◽

Solar Tracking

The solar tracking stand adjusts its pose timely to have the solar panel properly face to the moving sun. A 3-PRS parallel manipulator is designed that provides high stiffness and easy maintenance. The reconfiguration of the 3-PRS parallel stand allows further optimization of workspace and stiffness with respect to seasons. The research discusses an optimized design for green energy collection.

Download Full-text

Excerpt from “The Sun God and the Dark Knight”1

The Supervillain Reader ◽

10.14325/mississippi/9781496826466.003.0024 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 249-250

Author(s):

Grant Morrison

Keyword(s):

Juvenile Delinquency ◽

Government Intervention ◽

The Sun ◽

Congressional Hearings

This essay reprints the Code of the Comics Magazine Association of America (1954), otherwise known as the “Comics Code,” because it directly impacts the characterization of villains in comics for generations. Fredric Wertham and his 1954 book Seduction of the Innocentvilified comics as being the cause of juvenile delinquency. As a result of outcry from parents and other civic groups, congressional hearings were held to talk about the content in horror and crime comics. Rather than wait for government intervention, the comics’ industry created the Comics Code to make sure that comics were published with non-offensive content.

Download Full-text

Student Anticipations and Reactions to Hybrid Format Education

Perspectives on Issues in Higher Education ◽

10.1044/ihe11.2.76 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 76-82 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sarah M. Ginsberg

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Study ◽

Learning Styles ◽

Student Perceptions ◽

Course Design ◽

Learning Experience ◽

Learning Experiences ◽

Traditional Classroom ◽

Traditional Learning ◽

Online Platform ◽

Hybrid Format

Abstract This qualitative study examined student perceptions regarding a hybrid classroom format in which part of their learning took place in a traditional classroom and part of their learning occurred in an online platform. Pre-course and post-course anonymous essays suggest that students may be open to learning in this context; however, they have specific concerns as well. Students raised issues regarding faculty communication patterns, learning styles, and the value of clear connections between online and traditional learning experiences. Student concerns and feedback need to be addressed through the course design and by the instructor in order for them to have a positive learning experience in a hybrid format course.

Download Full-text