People Around the World Begin Occupying Rooftops | Solar Mosaic

Occupy Rooftops has taken off in the media, the idea has been covered in the Huffington Post, GOOD magazine, Talking Points Memo, Clean Technica, TreeHugger and even on Arab Net. But more exciting than all the media attention has been the stories from people on the ground, people who had dreams of going solar but weren’t sure how to turn that idea into a reality. That is, until they saw there were hundreds of people just like them, people all around the world who had been dreaming the same dream. Then they saw that there were ample resources to support them, an online guide, free satellite-based solar assessments and $1,000 project planning grants to help them get their project off the ground. Well, okay we’re not quite sure what exactly inspired them but wow, read below and you’ll see why they inspire us!

Jay Huebner, a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Jacksonville, Florida said, “Our church is committed to integrating an Earth-oriented spirituality into our worship. We hope that by forming a solar cooperative, we can use this experience as a teaching tool and give congregation members the courage to go solar on their own houses, farms and businesses.” Jay thanked Solar Mosaic and our partners for helping his church get started. He’s expecting dozens of people to join him on Sunday November 20th and even has invited two solar installers to join and offer their technical expertise!

All the way across the Pacific Ocean, in Bucharest, Romania, Lavinia Andrei has decided to use #Occupy Rooftops to demonstrate that it is possible for normal, everyday people to create renewable energy. Together with over 20 friends, she’s done an inventory of buildings in her community that could benefit from solar. When asked why she decided to participate, Lavinia answered, “Renewable energy should be an instrument for individuals and small communities to improve their standard of life, reduce their energy costs and live in harmony with the environment.”

Further east, in Yerevan, Georgia, Kati Kiria is working with a team to put solar panels on a kindergarden for disabled children. She is inspired by the need to address climate change and is eager to create solutions in her own community.

Back in Dallas, Texas, a newly-founded company called Dynamo Labs is looking to hold an open forum in their “CoHabitat” office space. Dynamo developed an energy efficiency app for Apple devices and, their CEO, Blake Burris is the founding organizer of Cleanweb Hackaton—a conference to use IT to address resource constraints around energy, food and water. By holding a forum on November 20th, they hope to build community around the intersection of energy and technology in Dallas.

via People Around the World Begin Occupying Rooftops | Solar Mosaic.

For interested communities in Dallas, sign up here and join us at CoHabitat, 2517 Thomas Ave. and lets kickstart solar projects and spread the message that community solar is here to stay.

Tapping the Texas Solar-Well

Texas sun may soon heat up solar power | Star-Telegram | Dallas Business

K.I.S.S.

K.I.S.S. was the acronym commonly scribbled by my high school algebra teacher, next to the goofed up answers on my math tests.  Keep It Simple, Stupid.  A humbling message and an accurate one, after all, there is nothing like a bit of OVER THINKING to mess with your ability to problem solve. Most problems are pretty simple. So the solutions should be simple too.  Problems do tend to get complicated, but when that happens all you have to do is add-on to, tweek, modify, or adjust your original KISS solution.   For example…  

Problem : Fred is thirsty.

Solution : Drinking fountain.

 

Advanced Problem : Fred is thirsty for something bubbly and sweet.

Advanced Solution : Soda Pop.

 

MORE Advanced Problem : Fred is thirsty for something bubbly and sweet, while at the office.

MORE Advanced Solution: Vending Machine.

  This is a really basic example, but lets face it… it doesn’t make sense to try to sell Fred a soda if he’s totally cool with sipping from the drinking fountain.   At Dynamo, we don’t want to assume too much about the problems of our users, this prevents us from over thinking the products we build to address them.  Energy is a really really big industry, extending into every corner of practical life. Modern energy solutions are springing up everywhere and we think it’s awesome, but trying to manufacture a multifaceted, highly integrated solution, with every gadget and gismo will only scare people (and scare us too!) Most people are just now realizing that they have a real need for energy solutions.  Thus, Dynamo offers a basic solution that  allows us to understand our specific needs as a society and figure out what kind of answers people really want.

#cleanweb Hackathon Success! Dynamo survives (barely!)

Well after 6 months of planning and preparation the innagural Cleanweb Hackathon was a success! We would like to thank everyone who participated and send a massive ‘air-five’ out to Parisoma for the hospitality over the course of the hack, giving us a roof and keeping everyone fueled along they way!

Over the course of the weekend we saw some really great ideas come to life! Check out a full recap of the sprouting innovation from the #cleanweb Hack Presentations. It’s amazing what happens when you give ideas a little bit of room to grow…

Thanks to all the participants and sponsors alike. It was a great event and we look forward to see everyone again next year!

-Team Dynamo

Max Yzaguirre, former Chairman of Texas PUC joins Dynamo’s board

For our friends and followers who don’t read those press releases, we’re posting a blog-friendly version of the good news here

Dallas, TX - September 12, 2011 - Dynamo Labs - Dynamo Labs, a social software company pioneering clean energy solutions for the residential market, has appointed M. Max Yzaguirre to the company’s Advisory Board. Yzaguirre will utilize his more than 25 years of leadership experience spanning electricity, oil and gas, public affairs, and private equity, to help direct the launch of Dynamo’s first consumer-focused product addressing energy efficiency.

“I am excited about being a part of the Dynamo team during a time that is ripe for innovation in the energy industry,” said Yzaguirre. “I believe consumers will respond favorably to Dynamo’s approach, which is to empower consumers to make energy choices that are tailored to their individual preferences. A growing number of energy experts realize today’s consumer deserves something more robust than a one-size-fits-all solution that is either a behavioral modification tool or yet another piece of hardware.”

Yzaguirre was appointed Chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas in 2001 by Governor Rick Perry. From this post he oversaw the deregulation of the state’s retail electricity market and spearheaded the political movement toward a user-centric energy market. In today’s competitive market, electricity retailers compete for the attention of the home energy consumer. Mr. Yzaguirre shares the view that the consumer will play a pivotal role in unlocking the demand for efficiency solutions and implementing the clean energy future.

As Blake Burris, CEO of Dynamo Labs notes, “consumers are mostly dis-engaged from things related to energy and efficiency just as in the early days of telecom de-regulation. Today, with smart phone adoption skyrocketing, people can hardly recall life before the App Store. We expect the same explosion of innovation and options in consumer energy, efficiency and related products.”

In the era of $4 gasoline, Dynamo’s mission is to help people take charge of their energy costs by profiling their home usage, and matching them with the best available options and incentives. From their iPhone, users can conduct a DIY home energy audit by answering a few questions, counting light bulbs and snapping a photo of their bill. Furthermore, DynamoConnect™ allows residential customers with a smart meter to view near real-time usage data.

Yzaguirre has led several energy companies, having served as President of Hunt Mexico, Hunt Resources and Enron Mexico, and is very familiar with the utility sector. He currently operates a business development and public affairs consulting company as President and CEO of the Yzaguirre Group and also serves as CEO for Isolux Ingenieria USA.

Dynamo is all about Power FOR the people.

Wow - what a month it’s been and it’s only halfway over! We’ve been so busy building cool tools that we’ve neglected our blog for almost 6 weeks; totally unacceptable! Though, If you been following us on twitter then you probably know we’ve been crankin away on some pretty cool stuff. To the update…

It’s been a long stretch, but we’re excited to be making final preparations for our Beta launch which is at T-2 weeks and counting. For those that are signed up for out beta invite list, you will be receiving more details in the coming week so stay tuned. If you are not signed up on our beta mailing list - step to it! Click on the Dynamo logo above and sign up… like now - go do it, this will still be here when you get done!

We’re also very excited to be participating in The Biggest Energy Saver contest which just so happens to coincide with our beta launch! So all you Texas energy consumers out there get a 2 for 1 come August 1st - You get our awesome app, and a contest of your own to save energy and get free stuff! It’s a Win-Win - check out the Biggest Energy Saver link for more details!

And for those that have been keeping up - Dynamo, along with our own Blake Burris is helping to organize and sponsor the Clean Web Hackathon. The event, originally scheduled for the end of July has been posponed. Expect an announcement soon for the new date - expect mid September!

Stay tuned over the coming weeks for more exciting announcements and changes headed your way!

-Dynamo Team

City of McKinney Plugs in

The City of McKinney launches city owned charging network for city vehicles.

The City of McKinney’s first electric vehicle (EV) plugs into its very own EV charging station today at the city’s Roy and Helen Hall Library downtown provided through the TXU Energy EV Accelerator Program^SM.

This station is one of the city’s four planned charging stations. The remaining charging stations will be located at the McKinney Senior Recreation Center, as well as the office buildings for the Development Services and Public Work departments. The TXU Energy EV Accelerator Program^SM helps customers like the City of McKinney ‘jump-start’ their adoption of EVs and associated charging stations.

In addition to installing the charging stations, TXU Energy worked with the City of McKinney to secure a grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, who is funding the conversion of three existing city vehicles, Toyota Prius hybrids, into plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

“We see interest from cities in electric vehicles, and we try to provide solutions our customers and communities want,” said Jim Burke, chief executive officer for TXU Energy. “We intend to be a leader in the movement toward greater use of electric vehicles because it’s important for our customers, it’s important for Texas, and it makes good business sense.”……….read more

Source: www.energyfutureholdings.com

 

Come see us at Earth Day Dallas, April 22-23

It’s only three days until the kick off of Earth Day Dallas 2011! Local environmentalist Trammell S. Crow is hoping to catalyze a “green”  movement in Dallas by staging the inaugural Earth Day Dallas Festival in the heart of downtown.  An estimated 50,000 people are expected to turn out for the 2-day festival - just a stone’s throw from Dynamo’s Dallas office in Uptown. Dallas is the 11th most toxic city in America (Forbes 2009) and among the first two cities to be getting NRG Energy’s eVgo city-wide charging station network (Houston announcement on Techcrunch).

This week NRG Energy unveiled it’s first eVgo branded “Freedom Station” at a Dallas Walgreens, and aims to pepper the map with a total of 60 such units by Labor Day (via Engadget)

While there are quite a few other charging station initiatives, NRG’s CEO and Earth Day presenter, David Crane, is making a significant investment ahead of consumer adoption of EVs. This is just the sort of capitalist approach that’s needed to speed adoption of new consumer technology. As advocates of a Clean Energy Future, Dynamo Labs is proud to be involved as an organizer, sponsor and exhibitor this year. We will be sharing Dynamo’s mobile app for assessing home energy habits and help connect you with options to save energy and money. We’d love to see what you think so come see us at booth #214 (on the east side of the festival near the DMA).

Dynamo Submits to GE Ecomagination Challenge

Help support Dynamo’s vision of a clean energy future by supporting our application to the GE Ecomagination Challenge!

Dynamo - Your Home Energy Companion!

Scathing report on Texas electricity deregulation and its overlord, ERCOT

I wouldn’t want to trade places with ERCOT reps facing state legislators this week in Austin.

ERCOT has for too long been run for, by and of the power companies,” he said. “Our electricity planning has allowed the kind of blackouts we saw week before last to occur. We don’t look at how to prepare in advance for weather emergencies. We have ignored the impact of blackouts on gas pressure and failed to require gas plants to have noninterruptible gas supplies. Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/02/14/2847391/new-report-hits-ercot-electricity.html#ixzz1E3Jo1659

via New report hits ERCOT, electricity deregulation | Business | Dallas Business, Texas Busi….