The Center for Applied Building Science

The Center for Applied Building Science A non for profit initiative providing a research alternative to improve building energy consumption before we kill this planet.

Looking for volunteers: web design and build, writting/editing, organizing, fundrising, etc... Knowledge developed at the Center will be published open source for non-commercial use.

06/09/2026
06/09/2026

Spain has opened Europe's first commercial-scale agrivoltaic olive grove — the Extremadura Agrivoltaic Complex covering 800 hectares in Badajoz province — combining 150 megawatts of elevated solar panels with a fully operational olive oil production operation on identical land, generating clean electricity and premium agricultural output simultaneously.

The installation mounts bifacial solar panels on 4.5-metre-tall steel structures spaced to allow full mechanised olive harvest equipment to operate beneath without modification. Partial shading from the panels reduces olive tree water consumption by 28 percent during Spain's increasingly intense summer drought periods — a critical advantage as Extremadura receives only 450 millimetres of annual rainfall. Olive yield per hectare has increased by 12 percent compared to unshaded control plots due to the moderated temperature and reduced water stress during critical fruit development months.

The dual revenue stream — 150 megawatts of solar electricity at 45 euros per megawatt-hour and premium extra-virgin olive oil certified as sustainably produced — makes the Extremadura complex financially superior to either pure solar or pure olive cultivation on the same land, establishing a replicable model for Spain's 2.5 million hectares of existing Spanish olive groves.

Source: Iberdrola Spain, Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Joule, 2025

05/31/2026

Australia is pioneering a revolution in home renewables and battery use, proving what is possible with the right policies

Hawaii startup built a 3D-printed Navy boat
05/26/2026

Hawaii startup built a 3D-printed Navy boat

Building a military boat traditionally requires molds, fiberglass layup, skilled labor, a fixed factory, and weeks of production time. A Hawaii-based startup called Voltage Vessels is working to replace that entire process with a 3D printer, a spool of basalt-reinforced

PV-driven hydraulic hydro storage may hit $0.022/kWh LCOE in the U.S. – pv magazine International
04/07/2026

PV-driven hydraulic hydro storage may hit $0.022/kWh LCOE in the U.S. – pv magazine International

An international study has demonstrated that utility-scale solar PV paired with hydraulic hydro storage (HHS) could reach an LCOE as low as $0.022/kWh in select U.S. regions. The system could provide GWh-scale, cost-competitive, and highly reliable long-duration storage, capable of powering large co...

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