A startup that makes materials that can convert heat into electricity plans to develop a solar hot water heater using its materials that could go on sale next year. The device will be the first product from GMZ Energy, which recently raised $14 million in funding.
Last year’s oil spike feels like a distant memory, but to remind you, oil prices surpassed $147 per barrel last July, with gasoline prices above $4 per gallon. But if you think that was bad, feel lucky you weren’t living in the Caribbean at the time.
Yes, I said “lucky.” Because while living in the Caribbean islands may have plenty of other perks, the islanders suffer more than Americans when oil prices skyrocket. After all, the United States gets only 2 percent of its electricity from petroleum, with most of its electricity coming from coal and natural gas, according to the Energy Information Administration. Meanwhile, a whopping 92 percent of the electricity in the Caribbean comes from oil, said Babul Patel, a senior consultant for energy software and consulting firm Nexant Inc., at the Intersolar North America conference in San Francisco last week. Read More about A Sunny New Market for Clean Power: The Caribbean
