Soul Inventions will begin shipping a portable scrolling solar panel charger in Q1, said manufacturer’s rep Global Zendustry. The $129 panel is housed in a cylinder and unrolls to soak up energy from the sun so users can charge mobile devices when outdoors, it said. The Soul Solar Sroll’s 5200 mAh battery can power a smartphone one or two times on a full charge, a MacBook to a third of its power capacity or wireless headphones 10 times, said the company. The device also can be charged by AC power or a USB charging station.
The FTC is proposing amendments for improving “organization and clarity” of EnergyGuide labeling requirements that leave TV labeling rules virtually unchanged under Department of Energy TV test procedures, said a rulemaking notice Monday. One change would make it easier “to identify relevant covered products” under categories of appliances, furnaces and central air conditioners, lighting and plumbing, and will be “particularly” useful for categories like lighting, “which contain several different product types and exemptions,” it said. Another amendment would simplify the EnergyGuide label formatting and content rules for six classifications of appliances. A third change would remove "obsolete references" to rules on products marketed "decades ago" but no longer available. Comments will be due 60 days after Federal Register publication.
Familiarity with utility energy programs is strongest among affluent homeowners with high energy bills, young early adopters and the “early majority” with high energy bills, Parks Associates blogged Tuesday, saying 21 percent of U.S. broadband households are “very familiar” with rebates and other incentives associated with adoption of energy-efficient products. The challenge for energy providers is to offer incentives that motivate people “from interest to action,” said analyst Tom Kerber. Additional findings: 5 percent of consumers have taken extreme actions to reduce energy consumption; 45 percent of consumers influenced by incentives would take one if combined with a demand-response program; and while 56 percent of households believe it’s very important to have an energy efficient home, only 16 percent believe their personal habits are very energy efficient.
The 2012 voluntary multi-industry agreement on set-top box energy efficiency reduced annual U.S. set-top power consumption by 34 percent to 21 terawatt-hours in 2017, a reduction equaling nearly the power generated annually by four typical 500 megawatt coal-run power plants, said independent auditor D+R International in a Thursday report. MVPDs, set-top box makers and energy efficiency advocates recently OK'd a four-year extension of their agreement (see 1803150057), which requires publication of the annual audit reports. In 2017 alone, the agreement saved U.S. consumers more than $1.4 billion on their energy bills and cut 8.1 million tons of CO2 emissions, said the report. For the five-year life of the agreement, cumulative energy consumption was reduced by an estimated 27.8 TWh, saving consumers about $3.5 billion on their energy bills and avoiding 20.6 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, said the report: “The energy saved during this five-year period is enough to power all homes in Los Angeles County with electricity for almost a year.”