TESLA POWERWALL: GAME-CHANGING BATTERIES FOR HOMES AND BUSINESSES

Tesla Powerwall: Game-changing batteries for homes and businesses, starting at US$3,000
By Michael Graham Richard, Treehugger, 1 May 2015.

Adding more storage capacity to the power grid is the last remaining step before we can go all out with renewable energy.

Launching Tesla Energy

One of the main challenges of running a power grid is that supply and demand have to be in balance at all times. This means that electricity has to be consumed when it is generated. This makes it harder to integrate sources of energy over which you don't have control, such as wind and solar power. What if there's a high demand for electricity but the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining? What if it's a sunny and windy day and supply far exceeds demand?

That's the problem that having more energy storage connected to the power grid could solve.

Catalyst for renewable energy

Image: Tesla Powerwall

As the graph above shows, peak renewable production and peak demand are not always at the same time; with storage, you can stockpile energy when it is available, and use it when you need it. With enough storage, we could go 100% renewables, and as long as long as on average we produce as much power as we use (with a margin of safety for unexpected problems), we'd be fine. Storage basically smooths out the supply-demand curve, like magic.

Tesla publicly launched a new division last night, Tesla Energy, and unveiled the Tesla Powerwall storage system for homes and businesses. It's a sci-fi looking 220-pound flat battery pack that hangs on a wall, as you can see on the image at the top of this article. It looks like something you'd see on a spaceship and fits well with the overall Tesla design aesthetic (Superchargers, Model S, home chargers, etc).

It does three main things: First, it can store solar energy if you have solar panels, second, it can store energy from the grid off-peak when power is cheapest (in places where utilities have time-of-use dynamic pricing) and release it when power is most expensive, saving you money and smoothing out the demand peak, which is good for the grid overall. Finally, it can act as a backup power source if there's a power failure.

For home use, there are two models. A 7kWh one for US$3,000, and a 10kWh version for US$3,500. These prices don't include installation, which will be done by certified installers (probably including Tesla partner SolarCity), but they also don't include any incentives. Some utilities or states might want to give rebates and incentives to encourage people to buy storage because of the positive effect that it can have on the power grid as a whole.

Internet-connected batteries

Here are the detailed specs:

Image: Tesla Powerwall

As you can see above, the Powerwall units come with a 10-year warranty, which can be extended by a further 10 years. That should definitely help those who worry about new technology being unreliable sleep easier. The 92% efficient is also nice to see, and Musk revealed that the Powerwall units would be connected the internet, partly so owners can access management software and stats, and partly so they can be linked into micro-grids.

You can group batteries, and they even come with a space to fill in the gap between them, hiding the interconnection and making everything look nicer, like something you'd see on on Star Trek.

Image: Tesla Powerwall

If you're wondering how much electricity different appliances in your house require to operate, Tesla has provided a handy graph that gives you an idea:

Image: Tesla Powerwall

As Lloyd said, they should "sell it with a clothesline, if you get the dryer off the system it could run the house."

If you want one, Tesla says that deliveries will begin this summer. You can reserve a unit here.

Tesla has also shown what larger batteries for businesses and utilities would look like, including a rendering of what a utility-scale deployment might look like:

Image: Tesla Energy

Each of those boxes contains a rack full of battery modules. If you want more together, you just add more boxes until you have the desired amount. It's a bit like giant power-storing legos. Commercial units will start at 100kWh, and scale up to potentially multi-gigawatt-hour installations. Wow!

As production ramps up, Tesla will no doubt use a significant portion of its battery Gigafactory, and maybe even build more of them. Note that the Tesla Gigafactory itself will be powered by renewable energy.

Image: Tesla Gigafactory

At the press event where Tesla unveiled the Powerwall, it was revealed that the whole thing was powered by Tesla batteries:

You can see a video of the introduction here:

Tesla also tweeted a few interesting facts before the event:

Finally, a last interesting note: Tesla's strategy of opening up its patents to anyone who wants them has been extended to the Gigafactory and this battery technology.

Via Tesla Energy

See also: Lloyd's take on this announcement over at MNN.

Top image credit: Tesla Powerwall.

[Source: Treehugger. Edited.]

10 POP-UP HOUSING CONCEPTS THAT COULD CHANGE THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT URBAN LIVING

Can These 10 Pop-Up Housing Concepts Change the Way We Think About Urban Living?
by: Leah Gonzalez, The Coolist, 29 April 2015.

As cities swell, the cost of living rises. The demand for desirable urban space has driven designers to look for creative solutions off the beaten path. Some have found the answer in compact pop-up housing that can rise quickly, inexpensively and wherever one desires. But “fast, cheap and mobile” housing doesn’t have to be dull. Popup housing can be fun, imaginative and progressive - in ways that instil pride in their occupant. Join us as we celebrate 10 of the most interesting, exciting pop-up houses in cities around the world. From student housing to disaster relief, artist studios and homeless shelters, these compact housing systems could change the way we think about urban living.

1. SCADpad is a Tiny House Takeover of an Underused Parking Garage

Designed and developed by a group of students, alumni, professors and staff from the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), SCADPad is a pop-up housing facility built in an underused parking garage in Atlanta. Each SCADpad provides 135 square feet of living space and a panoramic view into downtown Atlanta. The project is a response to the challenge of designing suitable and efficient housing given the growing population in cities around the globe. The housing facility includes three SCADpad units with different themes and designs, a common green space and an organic garden.

2. Scribe Billboard House Turns a Billboard Into a Slim Studio in the Sky

Scribe, a Mexican paper company, took billboard advertising to another level when they turned a billboard into a temporary apartment for an artist while she worked on the billboard ad. The Scribe Billboard included a small apartment behind the billboard in Mexico City. The apartment included a bed, kitchen, bathroom, and small work space. Scribe worked with architect Julio Gomez Trevilla for the design of the billboard house. The first artist to take up residency in the Scribe Billboard was Cecilia Beaven, who stayed for ten days while she worked on a mural that represented what you can do with a blank piece of paper.

3. Heijmans ONE Low Cost Modern Pop-Up Housing Can Be Constructed Anywhere

Dutch real estate developer Heijmans designed the Heijmans ONE as a movable one-bedroom house that can be easily set up on a vacant space and moved as easily when needed. The Heijmans ONE is designed specifically as affordable pop-up housing that can be put up in temporarily vacant lands. The movable house includes a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room, and a patio. The Heijmans ONE is the company’s solution to two issues: the need for temporary rental houses and the existence of empty derelict lots.

4. This Emergency Pop-Up Housing Prototype Can Be Stacked Into a Temporary City

Garrison Architects designed a modular post-disaster housing prototype for urban residents who are displaced in the event of a disaster. The company was hired by the American Manufactured Structures and Services (AMSS) for a project for the New York City Office of Emergency Management. The modular pop-up housing is designed to be flexible and can be set up in public spaces, vacant lots, and yards. The units can be deployed in different parts of the country and easily installed on-site. The modules come in one to three bedroom configurations and include a living area, kitchen, bathroom, and storage space. The modules are also made of recyclable materials and built to be sustainable.

5. A Fast, Low-Cost Inflatable Pop-Up House: The Black House by AirClad

The Black House by AirClad is a pop-up housing structure that was originally designed for a private garden exhibition. The house is set on a 4 meter by 3 meter area with a maximum height of 4 meters. The Black House has an integral flooring system made of eco recoiled wood and plastic. The structure basically looks like a fancy inflatable house that looks quite comfortable. Though the company designed the Black House for a private exhibition, AirClad sees it as ideal for a variety of functions, such as as a home office, play room, garden room, pool house, among others. It may not be exclusively liveable, but for temporary use or additional living space, it’s just the ticket.

6. The Popup House by MultiPod Studio Rises in Just Four Days

The Passive House Pop-Up House by MultiPod Studio is a 150 square meter house that can be easily assembled and disassembled. The Passive House consists of a wood frame and insulation blocks that are put together with long wood screws. The pop-up house is designed to be used as a low-cost home or office and is 100% removable and recyclable. Above, the pop-up house is built in just four days with a group of workers, keeping labour costs at an absolute minimum.

7. The Dumpster Project - An Upcycled Dumpster House

The Dumpster Project is an on-going experiment that aims to transform a garbage dumpster into a small sustainable house and interactive teaching lab. The project team, based in Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, has already turned a 33 square foot dumpster into a living space and officially launched it in 2014. A member of the team, Dr. Jeff Wilson, lived in the Dumpster for a year as part of the project. The project also invites educators and creatives to experience living in the Dumpster through the Dumpster Project Home School Residency Program.

8. Pop-Up Urban Housing - Tents Become Temporary Artists Residences

A-KAMP47 by French architect Stéphane Malka consists of 23 vinyl tents installed along a railway viaduct wall in Marseille. The umbrella-shaped tents are insulated with isothermal blankets and create “stealth” spaces that can be used as temporary shelter by “urban campers” or homeless people. All but one of the tents can fit two people. A-KAMP47 is somewhat of a commentary on the issue of housing, and the project tows the line between private and public property because the tents are installed on the wall and not on the ground.

9. Reaction Housing Evo Box is a Futuristic Micro Shelter

The Exo by Reaction is a portable pop-up housing unit that can provide living and sleeping space for up to four people. An Exo unit consist of a base or floor and a shell or the walls and roof. The beds are already attached to the wall and can be easily folded down for use. Exo units are designed to be durable enough to last long in storage and can be stacked like cups to make them easy to transport and store. Each unit is built with sensors and smart electronics, and guests can lock and unlock their unit with a key card or NFID bracelet.

10. Artist Gregory Kloehn Designs Amazing Upcycled Homeless Shelters

Artist Gregory Kloehn creates one-room shelters using illegally dumped trash, commercial waste, and other discarded items that he finds in the streets. Kloehn started the Homeless Homes Project to create mobile shelters for the homeless using items that have been considered garbage by many people. Kloehn’s colourful shelters are tiny, but have walls, roofs, tiny windows and doors, and even wheels so that their owners can move them around if they need to.

Top image: The Roof Pod by AirClad. Credit: AirClad.

[Source: The Coolist. Edited.]

INFOGRAPHIC: TRUE PRIVATE MESSAGING - 7 APPS TO ENCRYPT YOUR CHATS

True Private Messaging: 7 Apps to Encrypt Your Chats
By KeriLynn Engel, Who Is Hosting This, 29 April 2015.

Are your text messages private and secure? Or are they vulnerable to prying eyes?

Given the news lately, it’s safe to assume they’re not.

It’s been revealed that the National Security Agency has been collecting text messages for years - up to 200 million a day. They collect everything they can from anyone they can, from phone all over the globe. Just by analyzing your text messages, they can extrapolate who you’re talking to, how often and about what, your location at any given time, and even glean information about your financial transactions.

They may even be assisted by carelessly designed apps on your smartphone. Many so-called “leaky apps” are exploited by government organizations to mine even more sensitive data about their users. A surprising number of the most popular messaging apps are insecure, as their creators put usability and features over the security and privacy of their users.

Other apps are purposely harvesting your information, taking advantage of the privileges and permissions you grant them when they’re installed. One famous example is the Facebook messaging app, which sparked a storm of controversy over all the permissions the app asked for upon installation. Since Facebook’s entire business model is built on selling your data to advertisers, why wouldn’t they try to harvest as much of it as they could with a new app?

The controversy didn’t last long, however, and millions of people decided to download the app anyway. As Facebook knows, most people don’t pay attention to the fine print, and even if they do, they’re willing to trade their right to privacy in exchange for convenience.

But what if you refuse to give up your privacy? What if you know that having “nothing to hide” is a dangerous fallacy, and understand the dangers of letting personal information fall into the wrong hands to be used against you?

If you want to protect your privacy while messaging on your smartphone, it’s vital to use a secure app. Here are the top seven apps we found that can help you protect your privacy.

Infographic Sources:
1. Wickr: Can the Snapchat for Grown-Ups Save You From Spies?
2. You can now send self-destructing Wickr messages from your computer
3. Wickr
4. Wickr - Top-Secret Messenger
5. Wickr - Meet the Team
6. How Wickr Works
7. Secure Messaging App Wickr Adds 22 Languages To Give More People A Private Voice
8. Cryptocat encryption app maker apologizes, swats bug
9. Cryptocat
10. Private chat can be easy and accessible
11. Cryptocat Aims for Easy-to-use Encrypted IM Chat
12. Cryptocat Blog
13. Encrypted Chat Service ‘Cryptocat’ released iOS app
14. Cryptocat, Now with Encrypted Facebook Chat
15. Secure Messaging Scoreboard
16. Iran Blocks Encrypted Chat Service Despite Claims of Internet Freedom
17. The results of our great messenger assay
18. The Swiss response to WhatsApp
19. The castle owner
20. Threema
21. Threema (Google Play)
22. Threema (Amazon)
23. Threema FAQ
24. Whatsapp competitor threema doubled the number of users
25. An Internet Hall Of Famer And Some Navy Seals Want To Make Your iPhone Safer
26. Vinnie Moscaritolo
27. Silent Circle Plans & Pricing
28. Silent Text
29. Philip Zimmermann
30. Idealism costs: Silent Circle announces ultra-private, ultra-expensive Blackphone
31. Android App Aims to Allow Wiretap-Proof Cell Phone Calls
32. Changing threats to privacy: Moxie Marlinspike on privacy threats at Defcon
33. Twitter Nabs The Two Guys Behind Mobile Security Startup Whisper Systems
34. Open Whisper Systems - Privacy that fits in your pocket
35. TextSecure :: Private SMS/MMS (for Android)
36. Auditors find encrypted chat client TextSecure is secure
37. A security audit reveals that TextSecure app is vulnerable to Unknown Key-Share Attack
38. Open Whisper Systems
39. Open Whisper Systems partners with WhatsApp to provide end-to-end encryption
40. Hackers Build Android Encryption Apps For Egypt
41. Surespot Encrypted Messenger
42. School of Privacy
43. Surespot
44. Surespot Encrypted Messenger (iTunes)
45. Surespot FAQ and Support
46. Meet Telegram, A Secure Messaging App From The Founders Of VK, Russia’s Largest Social Network
47. Telegram Applications
48. Telegram (Google Play)
49. Telegram Reaches 1 Billion Daily Messages
50. Can You Trust ‘Secure’ Messaging Apps?

[Source: Who Is Hosting This.]

10 INTERNATIONAL RESTAURANTS WITH AMAZING ARCHITECTURE

10 International Restaurants with Amazing Architecture
By Nikkitha Bakshani, The Daily Meal, 23 April 2015.

Architectural masterpieces are probably best when visited before or after a meal, because you can usually expect a tour that includes a lot of walking and educational information. But what if you could go to these masterpieces for a meal, as opposed to before or after? You’re about to learn that amazing architecture doesn’t just have to be for opera houses. Here are 10 restaurants around the world that are housed in buildings with amazing architecture.

If a restaurant is ambitious with their architecture, you can pretty much guarantee they will be adventurous with their food - unless they are housed in historical buildings and stick to traditional food. Either way, none of these restaurants use their architecture as a ploy to distract you from mediocre fare. The surroundings and the food work together to satisfy - not distract - you.

We found the items on this list by looking through Architectural Digest’s notable restaurants, as well as perusing our list of 25 hard-to-get-to restaurants around the world, because we (rightly) assumed that remote restaurants often have exterior design that makes them stand out from their uncrowded surroundings. While we toyed with the idea of limiting these restaurants to ones located in buildings that look modern and, well, cool, we believe that good architecture integrates the old and the new, the historic and the inventive.

In this article, “amazing architecture” refers to exterior design; we’ll leave restaurants with amazing interior design for another article. However, some restaurants in this list, like 1135 A.D. in Jaipur, are lucky enough to have both. Some restaurants in this list are a part of hotels or palaces that have amazing architecture, but others, like Mexico City’s Tori Tori, are landmarks of their own. While we were tempted to include buildings like Norway’s TrollVeggen Restaurant, the fact that the establishment is a tourist centre and cafeteria rather than a table-service restaurant made us exclude it from this list.

1. 1135 AD (Jaipur, India)

Credit: Honza Soukup/Flickr

Located right on the top of Fort Amer, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that sits on top of a mountain and looms over the “pink city” of Jaipur, 1135 AD serves North Indian food (try the dal makhani with the Rajasthani khuba roti) as rich and decadent as its décor, which models itself after the dining rooms of Rajput maharajas. Though technically a fort constructed of red sandstone and marble, the fact that it has four levels, each with its own courtyard, makes people often refer to it as a palace. [1135 AD Facebook]

2. Britta’s Restaurant (Harads, Sweden)

Credit: dan.nerd/Flickr

Britta’s Restaurant, located in Sweden’s Treehotel, an architectural masterpiece consisting of mirror-like boxes suspended among trees, promises unpretentious food that has nothing to do with “Michelin stars, white table clothes and oyster gloves.” You’re likely to find reindeer on their ever-changing menu, as well as delicious homemade ice cream with cloudberries. Treehotel is probably one of the best places in the world to watch the Northern Lights.

3. Café Kureon (Toyama, Japan)

Café Kureon is a Jenga-like structure surrounded by sparse green meadow. Little can be found about the food in what many Japanese design blogs call “a cosy eatery,” but that might be because the quality of the food just does not matter in a building as interesting as this one.

4. Church Brew Works (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)

Credit: Iris/Flickr

A brewpub located in a converted Roman Catholic Church, Church Brew Works, a Pittsburgh heritage landmark, delights patrons with its homemade brews - Celestial Gold light lager, Pipe Organ EPA, and Pious Monk Dunkel Munich-style dark lager, and a seasonal stout. The menu revolves around Pennsylvania classics with a high-end twist, like Kobe beef cheesesteaks, zucchini noodle spaghetti, pierogis stuffed with beer-braised chicken, and smoked Gouda grits.

5. La Maison 1888 (Da Nang, Vietnam)

Credit: Instagram @danangfinder

With long French windows and a pagoda-style roofs tucked into the side of a mountain by the East Sea, Vietnam’s Danang Sun Peninsula Resort is a sight to behold - and three-Michelin starred chef Michel Roux's fare at the hotel’s La Maison 1888 restaurant ensures that your eyes are not the only senses that will be engaged. Start with the blue crab velouté and tapioca pearls with lime-scented mascarpone ravioli; with entrées like pan-fried red snapper with wild rice and creamy galangal sauce or roasted Challans duck with mango and peppercorn-flavoured jus, your meal will be divine.

6. Mestizo Restaurant (Santiago, Chile)

Credit: John Zacherle/Flickr

Santiago’s Mestizo Restaurant, with dark, sharp exterior consisting of a roof that’s much bigger than the actual restaurant, serves excellent Peruvian and Chilean cuisine aside a fantastic view of the Parque Bicentenario. The menu relies heavily on seafood; and you’ll rely heavily on the pisco sours to keep you warm on those chilly, high-altitude nights. [Mestizo Restaurant website (in Spanish)]

7. The Orangery (London, UK)

Credit: Mélanie/Flickr

With all the sleek, modernist buildings out there that just so happen to have restaurants inside them, The Orangery - a high-ceilinged pavilion tucked into London’s Kensington Gardens - might seem a bit old-fashioned. The refined Georgian structure doesn’t even have the baroque touches of old buildings one might find in continental Europe, but it captures the soul of Downton Abbey-era London. Awash in natural sunlight (when London’s generally grumpy weather is behaving itself), The Orangery serves some of London’s best (and reasonably priced!) afternoon high tea.

8. The Redwoods Treehouse (Auckland, New Zealand)

Credit: Instagram @redwoodstreehouse

When New Zealand’s Redwoods Treehouse was the Yellow Treehouse Restaurant, the onion-shaped pod of a restaurant let customers walk in for meals, but now it only accommodates parties for private dining. Nevertheless, it is an onion-shaped pod of a restaurant suspended in between tall redwood trees.

9. The Rock Restaurant (Zanzibar, Tanzania)

Credit: Rod Waddington/Flickr

A boat ride away from the shores of Michanwi Pingwe beach in Zanzibar, The Rock Restaurant is a tiny, straw-capped hut that serves just-the-right-amount-of-frills seafood, like a gnocchi with vanilla-spiced crispy prawns. The tiny but well-curated dessert menu only has pineapple flambé and fruit salad. The simple structure looks magnificent when surrounded by the sea, which captures many shades of blue and green.

10. Tori Tori (Mexico City, Mexico)

Credit: wickerparadise/Flickr

At night, the psychedelic, latticed exterior of Tori Tori in Mexico City shines violet. The sushi restaurant, which has indoor as well as patio seating, is considered one of the best in Mexico - it’s symbolic of the city’s Polanco area, which is known for its fine dining. [Tori Tori website (in Spanish)]

Top image: The 1135 AD Restaurant. Credit: Mount Shivalik Hospitality.

[Source: The Daily Meal. Edited. Top image and some links added.]

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC'S BEST SPACE PICTURES THIS WEEK LVIII

Week's Best Space Pictures: Volcano Erupts and Sun Flares
By Jane J. Lee, National Geographic News, 1 May 2015.

Chile's Calbuco volcano blows its top and a solar flare bursts from the sun in this week's most intriguing views from space.

1. Pale Blue Dots

Massive light blue stars dot this image of a stellar nursery, courtesy of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. This region of star formation, a distant galaxy known as UGC 5797, sits amongst a smattering of spiral galaxies.

2. A Salty Crop

These dark brown dashes and dots scattered across the mint-green waters off the South Korean coast are seaweed farms. The region - which cultivates two different types of brown algae - raises about 90 percent of the country's crop.

3. Temper, Temper

A solar flare bursts from the sun's surface in an image taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Most of the material fell back into our star, but when it escapes into space and hits Earth, the debris can wreak havoc with our electrical systems.

4. Out of The Box

Workers unbox Japan's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter in a European Space Agency (ESA) test centre. The instrument - part of a joint effort between ESA and Japan - will study Mercury's powerful magnetic field. The mission is set for launch in 2017.

5. An Unexpected Awakening

The Chilean volcano Calbuco started erupting quite spectacularly last week, catching geologists and the public off guard. In this image, an ash plume (light brown) from the volcano spreads above the cloud deck over the South American country.

6. An Icy Distraction

Researchers in Greenland studying polar ice were grounded due to mechanical issues with their airplane - so they hiked to an iceberg frozen into sea ice. This composite picture is a combination of four images taken at 2:30 in the morning, local time.

Photo gallery by Nicole Werbeck.

[Source: National Geographic News. Edited. Some links added.]