In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Hexicon’s tilted towers floating wind power platform earns a European patent.
• The Solar Energy Industries Association launches a new diversity certification program.
• The Argonne National Laboratory is offering a free 15-minute webinar about threats to rare earth minerals.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

Tilted towers floating wind platform

Stockholm-based floating offshore wind company Hexicon will be granted a European patent by The European Patent Office for a floating platform with two tilted towers that makes it possible to install two turbines on the same platform. Called TwinWind (pictured above), here’s how they work, according to Hexicon:

The TwinWind design specifically allows the foundations, rather than the individual turbine nacelles, to align with the wind. This innovative design allows for the deployment of more turbines per sea area, increasing the energy yield per acreage and reducing the environmental impact. TwinWind also reduces the total costs of cabling, steel, installations and maintenance.

The patent has previously been granted in Sweden and South Africa.

Hexicon will next receive a formal decision about the grant, and then validate the patent in the markets for which it wishes to obtain patent protection.

Marcus Thor, CEO of Hexicon, said:

Our floating platforms with tilted towers increase the power density for a given water area and thus reduce the number of platforms and cabling, which means more efficient electricity production and lower costs. It feels great that we now also will get the European patent granted as planned.

Read more: World’s largest offshore floating wind farm is now complete

Solar diversity

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) in the US today announced a first-of-its-kind online program to help energy companies take a series of actionable steps on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ).

The DEIJ Best Practices Certification Program provides training and support for companies to analyze their DEIJ practices and implement workplace solutions that improve diversity. Participating companies accumulate points for the activities they complete and can achieve Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum certification.

The program is launching alongside SEIA’s new online learning center, where members can access SEIA’s archived webinar content, and other resources. SEIA is asking companies to sign up for the program and begin working through the modules that will help them achieve certification.

Rare earth mineral threats

Electric cars need rare earth elements that are mined and refined largely in China. But supplies are vulnerable. Disruptions can linger in the rare earth markets as today’s shortage of semiconductors continues to roil the car market.

The US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory is putting on a free webinar called, “Science at Work: Blocking threats to supplies of rare earth minerals.”

During the webinar, Allison Bennett Irion, the chair of Argonne’s Advanced Supply Chain Analytics initiative, will share the insights that her team gain by running unique models on the lab’s supercomputing resources to uncover threats.

The open-to-everyone, 15-minute webinar will be held on Thursday, October 28, 2021, from  8-8:15 a.m. PT/10-10:15 a.m. CT/11–11:15 p.m. ET.

You can register here.

Photo: Hexicon

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