brightness

BrightSource plans third giant solar-power plant

BrightSource Energy today disclosed plans to build a 750-megawatt solar power plant in California, which would be its third and largest utility-scale project.

The company said that the Rio Mesa Solar Electric Generating Facility will use its solar tower technology, where a field of mirrors reflects light onto a tower to create steam that drives a turbine to generate electricity. The project would generate enough electricity to power more than 300,000 homes, BrightSource said.

The plan calls for installing three towers able to generate 250 megawatts each (before accounting for the energy consumed by their operation).

BrightSource earlier this … Read more

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers. This week we had questions on Spotlight having problems indexing an external drive, the memory slot utility continually showing messages at bootup, keyboard brightness controls not working on external monitors, and DVD drives not playing audio CDs. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present a few answers here, we welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

Question: Spotlight indexing hanging on new external drive MacFixIt reader Kyle asks:

I recently upgraded to Lion … Read more

BrightSource Energy eyes second large solar plant

BrightSource Energy has proposed a second, utility-scale solar power project in California, offering a changed plant design in an effort to avoid environmental permitting problems.

The Oakland, Calif.-based company today said it submitted an application to the California Energy Commission for two solar power plants able to generate 250 megawatts each in Inyo County, Calif. Called the Hidden Hills Solar Electric Generating System, the project would generate power by using a field of sun-tracking mirrors to create high-temperature steam that turns a standard electricity turbine.

BrightSource's Ivanpah solar power plant in Southern California is one of the few … Read more

BrightSource adds salt for solar power at night

BrightSource Energy today announced molten salt energy storage for its heat-driven solar power plants, touting the advantages over flat solar photovoltaic panels.

With the storage, BrightSource solar power plants can deliver electricity to the grid consistently and into the evening hours. That makes the solar power more valuable because utilities pay more for power during peak hours, which continues past nightfall.

BrightSource's solar tower technology generates steam from a field of mirrors called heliostats shining onto a tower. The steam is fed into a conventional turbine to generate electricity. After turning the turbine, the steam is condensed into water … Read more

Brightest Flashlight performs as advertised

It's not beautiful, but it sure is bright. Brightest Flashlight Free activates your Camera LED (if available) and, of course, your screen, turning your Android into an ultrabright "flashlight."

There's no interface really, and there are no other functions. On one hand, Brightest Flashlight is great because it performs exactly as advertised. On the other hand, however, we wish it had at least some dimming options, or perhaps a blinking S.O.S. feature. One thing it does have, though, is a timer, which can autokill the app after 2 minutes, 10 minutes, or never--your choice.… Read more

How to reduce your Android screen's brightness for night reading

Even the lowest brightness level on Android phones tends to be bright in a pitch-black room. To ease your eyes, here's how to set up a simple app to reduce the brightness even further:

Step 1: From the Android Market, search for and install an app called Screen Filter, by haxor industry, and launch it.

Step 2: The Screen Filter icon will display in the notification bar. Drag the notification bar down and select Screen Filter.

Step 3: If you don't like the default filter percentage, drag the slider until you find the filter level you want.

It … Read more

Solar upstart BrightSource Energy files to go public

BrightSource Energy plans to raise $250 million from the stock market to build a pipeline of utility-scale solar power projects.

The Oakland, Calif.-based company on Friday filed its S-1 document with the SEC, laying out its business model and the risks of building large-scale energy projects in desert areas. BrightSource Energy is one of the few green-tech companies started last decade to seek to go public, which will be a test for investors' interest in its solar thermal technology.

The S-1 notes that BrightSource Energy's technical team has deep roots in concentrating solar thermal projects, with hundreds of … Read more

Google invests in giant BrightSource solar project

BrightSource Energy said today it has secured financing for a utility-scale solar plant in the California desert, the first project of this type to be built in the U.S. in decades.

The Oakland, Calif.-based company said that it has finalized $1.6 billion in loans guaranteed from the U.S. Department of Energy for the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, a facility which will have three concentrating solar thermal plants.

The company also said today Google will invest $168 million in equity into the project, joining BrightSource and NRG Solar, a division of utility NRG. The Ivanpah facility … Read more

Greek isle taps BrightSource for solar

The Greek island of Crete is planning for a 38-megawatt solar plant an BrightSource has been tapped to help build it.

Oakland, Calif.-based BrightSource has signed a deal with Nur Energie, the U.K. company developing the solar project, to use its LPT 550 energy system, the solar manufacturer announced today.

When complete and running at full capacity, the plant is expected to generate enough electricity for 13,000 homes.

BrightSource is known for its signature solar "power tower" technology that employs hundreds of sun-worshipping heliostats. The solar-tracking mirrors reflect solar rays on a common tower containing … Read more