A true point and reason to have back up power

But first, the misconceptions.

When power goes out in an area, the power will go out for solar and non-solar homes alike. Thus, in the usual configuration, solar panels do not make a house energy-independent.

Safety is the main reason: The equipment cuts off the solar generators when the line goes down so the house doesn't inadvertently electrocute linemen trying to fix a problem. Also, solar energy doesn't work at night, so most systems stay connected to the grid -- homeowners would need to spend another $5,000 or more on battery backup.

By the way you can have back up power for less than this but for a commercial grade system a big boy this is probably true.

Working while on my battery/solar/inverter system

Just to start, for the umpteenth time this morning, I walked into my office and turned on my solar /battery/inverter light and started to work away. I have done this for hours and hours and hours. My tractor battery tied into a 1 amp solar panel into a controller has stayed fairly well charged and my light comes on and lights most of my office. The light is brighter than the regular KCPL lights :)
In early blogs I wrote that I am building a 12 volt system (no inverter at all, no 110) I am going to retrofit an old lamp and feed my battery system up through the floor and have this lamp beside my bed. I will use it to read and also use it if the power goes out. Gauging my potential use, I would say my 7 amp hour battery will last a long time. So far I am having a blast with the system. I will keep you posted.

My next move is to put two or three panels together into a big battery and then try to light up most of my office at least three or four lights for hours a day. Just a thought.

Till next time

Joe

solar heater

I like this:

Interesting, I happened to build something like this as an experiment.

I took a 4′x4′ piece of scrap plywood, spray painted it black. I screwed scrap 2×4’s around the perimeter to make a box about 3″ thick. I bought a $2.99 pack of window film and stapled it on the box. I put a 3 inch hole at the bottom and the top.

I laid the box up against a stone wall angling it towards the sun. Then I went to go get a thermometer (I had a digital one). So not to get direct sunlight on the thermometer probe, I put a piece of insulation over the probe. This was I was sure to read the true temperature of the air coming out of the top vent hole.

Well within a minute, the temperature of the air coming out had pegged the thermometer at it’s max of 130 degrees. So then I got my meat thermometer that I use for grilling, and the temperature read 160 degrees. There was a bit of an air flow coming out of the hole, so I know I was getting the hot air to rise, being replaced by cool air at the bottom.

So, the concept works. I haven’t done anything with it though.

solar projects

I have been working on my solar 12 volt backup project. I am using a small 6 amp hour gel cell and a 10 watt solar panel and three LED lights. The lights work well! Very well! I am contemplating mounting it and running one of the lights up into my bedroom and have 12 volt lighting for midnight reading and also emergency lighting.

More to come soon.

Joe

a solar airplane?

Well I am a pilot but I am afraid I might not like this too much except for backup purposes.

http://www.ecollo.com/post/2008/07/The-latest-in-air-travel-solar-powered-planes.aspx

A neat article on Solar

From Yahoo creative commons:

How Many Solar Panels Do You Actually Need?

Apr 28th, 2009

by Lauren.

Hi Again!
photo credit: montereypubliclibrary

Yesterday we talked briefly about the importance of determining your location’s ability to sustain solar and wind power for your home house, or business. I trust you found the solar calculator tool to be helpful. I will be posting some other solar calculators as well very shortly.

Today we are going to talk about how you determine what your solar panel needs actually are.

One question that comes up quite frequently when mapping out your plan to build your own solar panel energy is, how many solar panels would or do you need?

Well, this will depend on a few factors. The main factors are your average electrical usage, roof angle, shading problems, climate, and of course other potential factors.

The formula to figure out the size of array you would need is to multiply your average daily demand in killowatt-hours by .25. This will give you the approximate size of solar panel array that is needed to meet your electrical requirements.

Some other factors to consider are how much you want to go off grid. And, are you wanting to go off grid all at once, or ease into it?

One great thing is that you don’t have to build your solar panel system to meet your entire electrical demands all at once. When you use a book like Earth4Energy or Home Made Energy you are able to take the plans, and build your solar panels one at a time, building them as you need them or as you are able. Even when you start with one, it is the start to saving some electricity, and it is even portable so that you can take it with you when you go camping, or just want to get out of the city for a while but desire to take your laptop with you.

You might wonder if there is any value in pursuing building your own solar panels, if they aren’t going to take you off the grid right away. I say, yes and amen, it is! Imagine cutting your electric bill by 25%? How about even 40-50%? And then when you have a battery backup, and earth4energy shows you where you might even obtain free batteries, you can experience uninterrupted power to critical during power outages for days or weeks.

A solar panel energy system is unlikely to wipe out all other sources of electricity right off the bat. Even those that are professionally installed will not take you from electrical dependency to zero dependency in a moment. They can, but they are extremely expensive. But, that is where government and city incentives come in. But that is for another day.

So, there you have an idea of how to determine what your starting point for building your own solar panel energy would be.

Working on my solar kit

I made more small hook up wires for my solar savior 12 volt energy kit. I am almost ready now to hook up thewires and test. I will keep you posted.

Need a inexpensive toy for the holidays? Visit www.solarsavior and look at our kits.

a new paper battery

Follow this link to a neat article about a new paper battery!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091207/sc_nm/us_battery_paper

working on a new solar 12 volt kit

I am soldering nice connections for my 20 watt solar kit. I anticipate it to be done and driving 3 lights by next weekend. I am going to drive this with a 7 amp hour gel cell.

Working on my emergency solar kit

I spent time yesterday working on and testing my solar panel hook up to my emergency battery in my basment. I am using a small gel cell and I got it working and charging. Next step today I will work on my connections. I am going to make it look good and secure. Once done and tested, I will string a wire up to my bedroom and connect up a 12 volt light for emergency and also night time reading. It is a fun kit, I should soon have some pictures of others who have bought it.

If you have an interest, visit www.solarsavior.com for more information. Also if yu want to experiment and build a solar panel we sell slightly blemished Sharp cells at $89.00 a pound plus shipping. Thes are 1/2 volt at 4 amp plus not a bad way to play :)

More later.

Batteries do not like the cold!

One thing I am learning is that batteries do not like the cold. I have two 35 amp hour gel cells outside feeding power to my inverter. I can tell you that when it was 55 or 60 out noooo problem but as it dropped into the teens well that seems to be a different story. Also my lights also take a bit longer to come to full strength. The white ones came up much faster than the yellow ones. I am using Florressants. I may switch money permitting to LED 120 V but they are expensive! I am using a 100 watt Tripp Light inverter and I am driving 5 lights. This weekend I will also add 12 volt lighting.

More to come

PS if you are interested in building your own solar panels I can sell you 1 pound of used but very functional cells for $89.00 plus shipping. This is about 40 cells. You can make a very nice panel with that many cells.

I am playing solar electric today!

Today I am going to get my barn electrified again. Solar power here it comes. Two batteries and a 17 volt 1 amp panel and we will see how she goes.

Make your own solar panels!

I have solar cells, some slightly chipped but perfect for the experimenter for $89.00 a pound! That's a lot of cells!

Solar is growing!

From the BBC:

Panel power

There has been a steady growth in small-scale electricity production at home in recent years. In 2008 there was a considerable jump - the number of people looking to generate their own electricity doubled in just 12 months.

Traditionally, homes have harnessed power from the sun through conventional solar panels, but an American company has developed what it hopes is the next generation of panel power.

SRS Energy has created "sole power" tiles, which are coated with thin-film flexible photovoltaic cells. The roof tiles are a dark blue colour to maximise the absorption of sunlight, and will be available from spring 2010.

The tiles are an example of how technology, in the form of new polymers and coatings, has the potential to increase the amount of energy that can be adapted from the sun.

For years most solar cells struggled to harness just one sixth of the sun's energy.

But newer materials are helping solar panels become more efficient, according to Professor Tony Day, director of the Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Building, London South Bank University.

"Laboratory tests are showing we can get to module efficiencies of about 22-23%, with traditional materials," he said.

"The next generation of materials it looks in the laboratory to be moving towards 30%, and in some specialist applications even 40%," he added.

Holiday gifts here!

Solar kits for the beginner are sold at www.solarsavior.com.

Solar cells for sale

Slightly chipped solar cells perfect for solar panel projects for sale now at $84.95 a pound plus shipping. Please contact me this is a special priced item and will not last long.

new panels

I just got some 8 volt 500ma solar panels with connectors and wire attached. Any one interested?

A happy customer

One of our customers bought our little solar experimenter kit and made a small plane that spun around in the sun. This was a teacher and it was a great way to demonstrate solar power. I will have a picture up soon. Just $25.00 or less can get you a nice little kit for school!

Working with my solar light

Well for the last several days I have been working by the light of a yellow glow from a bulb powered by an inverter, driven by a battery that is trickle charged by a solar panel. It works. You know recent editorials have hinted that an attack on the power grid is a possibility and if it happened the power for several states! A solar Savior power kit as simple as it is can light several bulbs and also run a small DC appliance. If you buy an inverter then you might be able to run a small TV. Visit our web site at www.solarsavior.com to learn more.

Do not forget the winter months, the ice and snow are coming, be prepared!

Solar cells for sale!

If you are looking to build your own solar panels, we sell slightly chipped but very very good solar cells for $89.00 a pound plus shipping. Visit our page today or e-mail me at jrossini@rossini.com for more info.

Solar lighting

Just a note that I have been working all day by the light of my solar inverted light here in the office. If you have an interest, call me at 913-244-6132.

solar power update

Neat article:

http://www.earth-stream.com/Earth/Clean-Energy/Solar/Florida-Constructs-Largest-Solar-Power-Plant-In-U-S-_18_151_660_211776.html

The sun!

The sun has finally emerged in Kansas...charge away!!

The solar challenge is over

Team Germany Claims Second Solar Decathlon Win
Saturday, October 17, 2009 :: Staff infoZine
EnvironmentBy Joseph D. Szydlowski - For the second time in a row, the German team won the Solar Decathlon, a competition to build energy efficient homes that use solar power, in part because the house produced more energy than it needed and was able to sell the surplus to the electric grid. Teams from Illinois and California finished second and third.

solar jobs?

Devens firm to help unite power grids
Bloomberg News / October 14, 2009


NEW YORK - American Superconductor Corp., a manufacturer of high-voltage transmission lines, has won a contract to unite three US transmission grids to improve reliability and boost renewable resources.


The Tres Amigas project will increase deliveries between the Western, Eastern, and Texas electric grids to allow for more efficient use of intermittent energy sources, such as wind and solar power, American Superconductor said yesterday.

The connections will be on 14,400 acres in Clovis, N.M., and act as a renewable energy hub, allowing solar energy in the Southwest to be shipped to Texas or California during the day, and delivering wind resources from the Midwest at night. Closely held Tres Amigas LLC will charge a fee for use of its system, which may be completed in 2014.

“It’s a good project for them but it looks to be a long way off from generating any revenue,’’ said Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates.

Devens, Mass.-based American Superconductor gained 53 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $33.22. The shares have more than doubled this year.

Chief executive Gregory Yurek expects the $1 billion project to be one of the company’s first profitable superconductor installations. The company will supply all the project’s superconducting wires. That portion of the business should achieve a 30 percent profit margin, he said.

Most of Tres Amigas’ construction will be funded through debt, and all of it will be privately financed, Yurek said. American Superconductor invested $1.75 million cash and stock in Tres Amigas for a minority stake and one of four seats on the board.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.

working by my solar light

Another dreary day but still working by the light of my solar inverter. Want some advice, write me.

Joe

Update on the solar decathlon

More info on this neat event


By Lindsey Anderson, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — What might look like a quirky 20-home subdivision that has sprung up on the National Mall between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument is actually the Solar Decathlon, a college competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy every two years.

Teams from across the USA, Canada and Europe are competing to design and build the most attractive and efficient solar home.

COLLEGE BLOG: Reports examine green campuses and town relationships
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ASK MATT: Solar energy stocks are promising, but still risky

Each house relies completely on solar power; the teams aim to produce as much or more energy than the house consumes. Any additional energy the houses produce is pumped into the energy grid of the local power company, earning the teams extra points.

The houses must be more than just energy efficient. They also have to be realistic and aesthetically pleasing, says Richard King director of the Solar Decathlon. He began the project in 2000, he says, because reliable solar technology was being produced, but no one bought it because of its cost and appearance.

"A homeowner says, 'No, I don't want that in my backyard,' " King says. "This stuff works but no one wants it."

So he appealed to architecture schools, inviting them to work solar panels into aesthetic design of homes and enter the competitions — which he says have become increasingly innovative and creative as the contestants learn from each other, King says.

"I didn't realize the way it drives research and development. It started on the premise of education, but with each successive event, we keep marching forward."

On opening day, Oct. 9, tourists, students and locals waited in lines to tour the 20 houses, which sit in two rows on wooden platforms, surrounded by potted plants in lieu of landscaping. Water tanks substitute for ground wells, since 500-foot wells cannot be drilled on the National Mall.

Each house reflects the climate and lifestyle of its region; teams use local materials and designs. The 40-foot south wall of the University of Arizona house, for example, features a "water wall," made of recycled plastic bottles. It pulls water up through the wall to deter the desert heat from entering the house during day, then slowly releases heat at night.

The team from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign used reclaimed barn wood to build its house. The outside walls of the University of Kentucky's house work like an illuminated billboard, depicting an image of a Kentucky farm at night.

"Every (house) is different and they've all got a story," King says.

The teams spent almost two years designing and building the houses near their universities, then broke them down to ship and reassemble here. Some houses will go back to the teams' campuses after the competition; others will be donated or sold.

The house built by Rice University in Houston will be donated to Project Row House, a nonprofit organization that meshes low-income housing with arts and culture in a local historic Houston district.

It is the least expensive house in the competition, costing about $140,000 to build.

"Our house may not be the flashiest, but we made sure it could be for everybody," says team member Travis Martin, while leading a group of middle school students into the house.

The most expensive house was by the team from Ontario/British Columbia, King says. It cost between $650,000 and $850,000 to build. Like many of the decathlon houses, it can be controlled remotely through the Internet or iPhone applications. If homeowners forget to turn off the lights or close the blinds, they can do so from the Internet instead of rushing home.

Gary and Theresa Truitt, of Bloomfield, N.J., who were among the 400,000 to 500,000 visitors expected during the competition, say they could see themselves living in some of the houses, like Virginia Tech's "Lumenhaus," with sliding glass walls.

"The design on some of these is just stupendous," Gary Truitt says. "It's the way we have to start living in the future."

If visitors to the decathlon are intrigued by features used in the houses, they can find every product, from insulation panels to furniture, in a product directory on the contest website, www.solardecathlon.org.

Each team received $100,000 from the Department of Energy to start the project, then had to raise additional funds for construction, transportation and other expenses. Winners will be announced Friday at 8 a.m. As of Wednesday, Team California (with members from Santa Clara University and California College of the Arts) was in the lead.

But other than a trophy and bragging rights, there is no prize for winning the decathlon.

"They get to be the most famous house in America for a day," King says.

Let the games begin!

Let the Games Begin!

Sedretary Chu with huge scissorsWith these words, and backed by 450 competing solar decathletes from five countries, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu officially opened the 2009 Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington DC. (Before he could wield the mammoth scissors, however, he had to shake hands with, and be photographed with, all 450 of them. That's energy).

Secretary Chu is finally in a position to promote and steer policies that could actualize ideas that he and his colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. developed many years ago. He spoke today of their investigation of the potential savings to be had in the heating and cooling of buildings. Their conclusions included the astonishing estimate that residential and commercial buildings could use 75-80% less energy than they then did, simply by focusing on energy efficiency. And indicating the solar houses stretching away down Decathlete Way behind him, he reminded his audience that even without the use of solar power, these buildings enshrined many of the principles that kind of saving required.

Chu's point, of course, was that energy efficiency is every bit as important as renewable energy production. It's a point that visitors to the increasingly popular Solar Decathlon will see in a different way in each of the twenty houses on show, e.g:

* Building optimization systems that regulate domestic power use;
* Triple-paned floor-to-ceiling windows that let sunlight in during daylight hours, then, due to the aerogel between the panes, continue to release heat into the living space after sundown;
* Walls built from 35% recycled materials filled with six inches of spray insulation made from canola seeds (making them not only sustainable but potentially tasty).

During his address, Secretary Chu also took the opportunity to announce that up to $87 million would be made available to support the development of new solar energy technologies and the rapid deployment of available carbon-free solar energy systems. Of this funding, $50 million would come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The money would flow to some 47 projects at universities, utilities, DOE's labs and local governments.*

"Today's awards are among the many investments made to create new jobs and a clean energy future with solar power," said Chu. "The projects will help accelerate the use of solar energy by residents, businesses and communities, and promote the long-term viability of solar energy by investing in the technologies of the future. I applaud each of these award winners who are vital to moving our country towards a sustainable solar infrastructure."

After severing the blue ribbon with a single mighty snip, Secretary Chu toured the solar houses, some of which were still being frantically prepared by students for the first public day tomorrow. (If you're within 500 miles of our nation's capital, it will be worth your while to make your own tour before the event finishes on October 18th).

cloudy, cloudy, cloudy

No sun today another yukky day. Solar power charging will be minimal :( Today is when I wish I had a wind generator going in tandum with my panels.

I added another server (now three) and a Cisco router yeaaaaaaa and another piece of equipment I forgot to ask my sys admin what it was :( it works thats all I care. I will have to add more baterries and panels to my back up solution.

from solar nation

A neat update on this years Solar Decathlon:

The Team to Beat

Take Action!
Darmstadt's title defense at the Solar Decathlon

Who is the 'team to beat' at the 2009 Solar Decathlon? It would have to be the Technische Universitat Darmstadt, aka Team Germany, and for the usual host of reasons: they won last time.

The Darmstadt students are well aware of the pressure they face in retaining the silver trophy of the Solar Decathlon, and it shows. Their 2009 entry is one of the most singular sights in the whole solar village, looking as much like an outsize lacquered ebony music box as a livable home. In fact, think of a cube draped in one large solar panel, top and sides, and you'd have a pretty good realtor's description of the home.

What you'll see at the Darmstadt site if you make the (very worthwhile) journey to the National Mall between now and October 16th is a two-story building envelope almost completely covered with thin-film PV panels with a total capacity of some 19 kW. That figure is so much in excess of normal requirements for an 800-square-foot house that the designers have dispensed with a solar hot water system; all the power for heating, cooling and lighting the building comes from the electricity generated by the panels -- crystalline silicon on the roof and thin-film copper indium diselenide on the walls.

As is now common with Solar Decathlon houses, the German entry features a building optimization system. This system monitors all electricity-using machines and systems in the house against the power available from the solar cladding, and can adjust energy use automatically or on command. It can also alter the position of window louvers to vary the amount of solar heat admitted. And the house's walls are made up of vacuum insulation panels, aided by phase-change material in the drywall, to maintain comfortable temperatures.

It's quite clear, considering the cost of the materials and sophistication of the systems used, that such a house would not fit in the 'affordable housing' category. Nor would the German students argue the point. Their philosophy was to "push the envelope with as many new technologies as possible", which creates a dichotomy as far as Solar Decathlon principles are concerned. On one hand, the competition's DOE sponsors want to see designs that can be reproduced, in whole or in part, in the homebuilding market. If a house produces twice as much power as it needs, as the Darmstadt house does, it pays a penalty in construction cost. This may make the design unmarketable, or confine it to a niche at the top end of the market;* (according to Solar Decathlon organizer Richard King, even the average cost of this year's houses is $490,000). On the other hand, DOE knows that what counts as high-end innovation today can become common currency in the market tomorrow, and that it's only by pushing the envelope today that we can bring about revolutions tomorrow.

How the Solar Decathlon juries parse this dichotomy in the next week may determine whether the prized trophy stays with the Darmstadt students or finds a new home until 2011.




*By contrast, the Rice University house is specifically designed to be used in a low-income home project. After the competition it will be transferred to Project Row Houses, a local community development organization in Houston, for rebuilding in the city's Third Ward.

Its rainy outside

It is gucky outside but I am working by the light of my battery and inverter :) I probably will have it on for an hour or two but it is humming away. If you want some help let me know and I can guide you.

joe

Working by the light of a silvery yellow inverted 110 lamp

Well here I am it is getting dark here in KC and I am typing away using my inverter/battery to light my office up. It works, it is a strong light and I can keep it on for hours if need be. Next up I am going to double the amp hours by adding another 12 volt battery to the mix. Stay tuned!

Joe R

Solar shingles ohhh boy!

Dow's solar shingles are poised to put the solar panel market out of business. The unobtrusive designs produce power more cheaply than traditional panels, are produced domestically, and require no specialized skills to install, other than standard roofing experience. (Source: Beanieville Blog)

The new cells uses CIGS thin films, encased in plastic. The resulting design has lower efficiencies that traditional panels, but is cheaper to produce, lowering the cost per watt by 10 to 15 percent over traditional panels. (Source: University of Strathclyde)
Product should shake up the power industry and open up new era for solar

Inventors and designers have long envisioned a roof or window that produced solar power affordably. However, until now no company had mass produced such a device. Instead, the consumer market was dominated by rooftop panels which require a fair amount of maintenance, are relatively fragile, and are rather expensive.

That's all about to change, however. Dow Chemical Co., one of America's most successful chemical firms, is launching the first mass-produced consumer solar shingle next year and will be planning a wide-scale rollout by 2011. The firm foresees a booming $5B USD market for the shingles.

The new shingles use a thin film of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) to capture solar energy. As a result, the cells which are encased in molded plastic are relatively flexible, unlike their photovoltaic cousins. And while these elements (such as indium) are quite expensive in bulk, they're used extremely sparingly, keeping costs low.

The shingles one weakness is that they manage just over 10 percent efficiencies, less than traditional panels. Despite this smaller generation capacity, they produce power at a 10 to 15 percent lower cost on a per watt basis due to production and installation cost savings.

Roofing contractors greeted the news with "an enthusiastic response" according to Dow, as the shingles require no additional special skills to install. A roof of the shingles can be installed in about 10 hours, versus anywhere from 22 to 30 hours of specialized labor to install traditional panels. These installation costs are an important issue as they comprise approximately half the cost of traditional panels.

It is unclear what wiring will be necessary to connect the shingles to household power, but Dow believes it won't be overly challenging. In total, Dow's solution will become the biggest player in a burgeoning market of "Building Integrated Photovoltaic" (BIPV) systems. While other BIPV solutions exist, many are only available to businesses, and the cost is typically 30 to 40 percent higher than Dow's system.

Dow's system is extremely flexible and can be intermixed with traditional asphalt shingles.

Jane Palmieri, managing director of Dow Solar Solutions states, "We're looking at this one product that could generate $5 billion in revenue by 2015 and $10 billion by 2020."

The new shingles will be produced domestically, with much of production coming from a 1,350-ton Husky Quadloc Tandem injection press newly installed in Midland, Michigan in 2008.

The first deployments of the shingles will be in new housing projects next year through partners such as Lennar Corp and Pulte Homes Inc. These smaller projects will build up to a full rollout the following year. The U.S. Department of Energy has granted Dow a small loan of $20M USD to help make that vision a reality and complete the commercialization of this promising product.

This will not be Dow's first foray into the solar market. It has manufactured high-efficiency photovoltaic panel material for some time now, and also produces the heat-capturing liquid used in concentrated solar power systems.

Even kids can use solar power!

Stanwood students earn grant to power farm equipment with solar panel

High school agriculture students use a $14,500 grant to install a solar panel that powers their greenhouses.

By Gale Fiege
Herald Writer
STANWOOD — Writing the grant application was the most rigorous project seniors Cory Calkins and Scott Weisse figure they accomplished in high school.

It may be the most satisfying as well.

Stanwood High School’s agriculture department plans this week to start using its new $14,500 solar panel to power its greenhouses and labs.

Cory and Scott, both 17, were instrumental in obtaining funding for the solar panel through a grant from Snohomish County Public Utility District and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

The 1,360-watt solar panel has unobstructed eastern, southern and western sunlight exposure, and was erected during the summer in the agriculture compound on the high school campus.

The solar panel will help nursery plants grow by providing additional light and heat in two greenhouses and power the tank equipment for 10,000 juvenile salmon in the aquaculture laboratory. The other goal for the new energy source is public education.

“We plan to use the panel as a platform for telling students and community members how solar energy works and what its advantages are,” agriculture and natural resources teacher Ryan Ovenell said. “We’ll offer a community tour later this fall.”

The Stanwood High School Sustainable Power Project received grant money from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation because it fit with the organization’s goals to support energy education and fisheries restoration, spokesman Ben Stuart said. The foundation also provides educational materials and real-time data monitoring for the project, he said.

“We love to see students involved and that’s at the core of our Solar4RSchools program,” Stuart said. “The students at Stanwood did the hard work for this project, and it was a perfect fit for the foundation because of their aquaculture lab.”

The PUD provided the technical support for the solar-electric project, with funding from the Planet Power program, PUD spokesman Neil Neroutsos said.

Last fall, Cory and Scott were looking for a project for their natural resources class and found the grant application through the PUD. They researched how solar power works and found a solar panel suitable for the ag complex, Cory said.

“It was a grueling, intense process,” said Scott of the grant application. “We worked on it during school, after school, before school. Our folks were surprised that we would be so determined to get it done.”

Agriculture teacher Ryan Ovenell wasn’t surprised.

“Scott and Cory are dedicated to whatever they set their minds to. I let them walk through the process,” Ovenell said. “They did all the math and suffered all the trials. They handled it just fine. I knew they would.”

Along with Cory and Scott, fellow senior natural resources student Sara Schlicker worked on the educational portion of the grant application, Ovenell said.

After the finding out they had been awarded the grant, the students then launched into applying for building permits and scheduling site inspections. In the summer, a crew of about 25 ag students dug the trenches for the power cables from the solar panel to the buildings. Landscaping around the panel is ongoing this week.

“This has been an exceptional project,” Ovenell said. “Anything that gets students tied into industry, government and a career path is a good idea.”

Scott plans to earn a degree in agricultural business at Washington State University. Cory wants to attend a school for electrical linemen and hopes to return to Snohomish County to work with the PUD.

“Our project was exciting, but solar power still remains expensive,” Cory said. “The increasing production of solar power systems eventually will make it more affordable.”

In the meantime, the boys said they’re happy the project is done.

“We left our mark on the ag complex,” Scott said. “It’s something great that we did before we graduated.”

Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.

A post about the solar challenge

Solar Decathlon Build-out Gathers Pace

Take Action!
First report from the National Mall

With the Solar Decathlon only a couple of days away, Solar Nation brings you the first of a series of eyewitness reports from the solar village on the National Mall in Washington DC. Today, we look at an unusually-shaped entry from Cornell University.

The sun rose this morning on a new development in progress in downtown Washington -- about as downtown as you can get, in fact. On the National Mall, stretching from the Washington Monument east to the Smithsonian 'Castle', twenty small houses were in different stages of construction. They had started their journey to the capital from points as far away as Darmstadt, Germany and as close as the state of Virginia, to compete in the 2009 Solar Decathlon.

The houses, all designed and constructed by university teams from the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Spain and Germany, have been under construction since the first of the month. And at 1pm on Thursday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu will officially open the event and the houses will begin to be judged in these ten contests:

* architecture
* market viability
* engineering
* lighting design
* communications
* comfort zone
* hot water
* appliances
* home entertainment
* net metering


I took my first look at the 'solar village' as it took shape in the early morning shadow of the U.S. Capitol. Some intriguing and innovative designs were on show, and perhaps none more intriguing than that of Cornell University. The shape of Cornell's 800-square-foot house brings to mind the grain silos typical of the university's upper New York State location (appropriately, it's known as the Silo House), but these silos support an 8-kW PV array and are clad with five inches of soy-based spray foam for insulation. In back of the house are two arrays of evacuated tubes, which use a water glycol heat transfer medium to provide domestic hot water and warm air for heating.

Part of the shape of things to come in the Silo House is the home control system, which anticipates an interactive smart grid. The system, by Computerized Electricity Systems, allows residents to monitor power use in real time through an Internet connection. It can turn devices on and off remotely, by program or by manual command, and with reference to the actual hourly cost of electricity. This capability is clearly intended to work with an electric grid of the future, in which home systems and appliances influence and are influenced by the utility power supply. And in a net-zero building like the Silo House, it can optimize the output of the PV and solar thermal systems.

I noticed that, unlike most of the other buildings, Cornell's entry seemed to skimp on sunlighting, i.e., using large windows to maximize passive solar benefits. But Sam Sinensky, an engineering sophomore, said: "we depend for sunlighting on a floor-to-ceiling wall of glass, which also serves as an entryway. The glass is double-paned and filled with Argon with a r factor of 5."

The path to the Silo House crosses an expanse of hydroponically grown grasses, which help to fillter grey water from the building. Each of the three 'silos' making up the living space -- kitchen, living room and bedroom -- contains several sensors for temperature and humidity, all feeding into a central system that regulates living conditions inside the building envelope.

When you see Cornell's house, your first reaction could be to wonder why the students used rusty corrugated iron for their walls. In fact, the material is COR-TEN, a steel cladding that loses its sheen by design, as the outer layer oxidizes to a weather-proof ruddy-colored coating.

Cornell has come in with a strong contender for the grand prize of the Solar Decathlon, but all the students involved know that there are nineteen other buildings, probably just as good, that theirs will have to beat for that silver trophy.

Solar e-zine #1

Solar power and emergency backup power
Since 1986, I have been involved in using solar power as a means to charge batteries for both 12 volt use and 110 volt use. Solar electric power has been around for a long time and it has evolved dramatically since 1986. Efficiencies are going up but still are only at about 15 to 25% so there is a great deal of room to grow. What I did back in 1986 is purchase my first 20 watt panel an old used one, a 12 volt used gel cell battery and I also bought a 100 watt inverter. Back in 1986 the inverters were square wave only at least the ones I could afford. You used the inverter to run lights and a fan or a drill but no computers or solid state equipment. Believe it or not I still have that old inverter Triplight and it works well. What I was able to accomplish was fun and exciting, I turned don some lights using the sun and my inverter and I also ran an old fan occasionally and a few other little experiments. This was my first attempt at emergency lighting and it did work well.
Now in 2009 things are a bit different yet also eerily similar. Solar panels have progressed in efficiencies, inverters have come down in price and now can do a simulated sine wave (good enough for most electronics) and batteries are a tad bit better. So what am I doing now with solar energy and inverter power? I am using a solar panel and a 35 amp hour battery to run two lights in my office for one thing. I can run the lights for several hours at a clip. Those lights are by the way brighter than the power grid lights. So what good is that you ask? Well it is not to save money, at a savings of about .02 per hour or so I will not get rich but what I will have is quick and reliable emergency backup power. If the power goes out for 30 minutes to several hours , I will have light in my office and also able to run some key office systems without having to get out a bulky gas generator. Currently I have five lights running on solar power/inverter back up energy. Oh yes, my basement is totally wired and running on if needed solar power and inverter driven 110 power. A true story, I was up early and working out in my basement and I had on my back up lighting. My basement has a lot of things going on that give off noise such as the heating system, the refrigerator etc. As I worked out, oblivious to everything around me, I noticed how quiet it had become. The lights were on, my radios were on but no other noises were present. I looked around and realized we had had a power failure. Yes you can run a radio and a TV and more on backup power. How much would this cost and what else can I power you ask? Well that is for my next article. Look for me and read my blogs at www.solarsavior.com.
Until then

This is Joe Rossini Jr

The web can help you sell!

Rossini.com is the parent company of Solar Savior and we offer web marketing products. If you need help give us a call at 913-533-4098 or visit our website at www.rossini.com

E-commerce lets young solar panel team target global market
Gold Supplier Member Photo Member: Mr. Li
Company: Zhangjiagang Suntary New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. What's Gold Supplier


Country: [China]
Industry: Electrical Equipment&Supplies
Products: Solar PV panels, solar generating products, BIPV, solar PV lighting products and solar application products.









Suntary is a provider of innovative solar PV solutions for customers all around the world. Our superior solar products can bring unique value for customers including solar PV panels, solar generating products, BIPV, solar PV lighting products and solar application products. E-commerce, especially Alibaba.com, helped more customers to know our products, and also helped us to provide better service to customers.

Our young foreign trade team didn’t have any experience on e-commerce when we cooperated with Alibaba first time. Our Alibaba B2B platform was established from July, 2008, then we began to carefully operate this platform, such as uploaded product images, regularly updated our company's products and information, and timely posted supply information. Through this platform, a lot of foreign customers found us, and sent us more and more inquiries.

Directed by the principle of actively posting information and sincerely serving customers, we made great efforts to post more and more product information, improve the rankings of information, make quotations more and more professional, provide better and better consultation and help to customers, then orders from customers gradually increased, and our spirit and ability also was strengthened. For example, in March this year a customer placed an agent order of USD2,000,000 to us through 3 months communication.

Now we are confident that we can create bigger value for customers through e-commerce. Every day we set our information keywords, post professional product information, reply inquiries, call customers, and try best to provide solution for customers. Our foreign team is growing more and more mature, and we also grow together with our customers.

higher output panels

Solargy Systems Inc. developing high output solar panels

By: PR Newswire
Sep. 28, 2009 08:00 AM


FT. LAUDERDALE, FL, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Solargy Systems Inc. "SLGS-PK". Solargy Systems Inc has indicated it is developing high output solar panels of 500 watts and possibly as high as 1000 watts at the same cost of standard 200 or 300 watt panels. The new panels will be used in the firms existing solar farm power projects.

C M Nurse, CEO noted, "In the last few years there has been significant developments of solar panel technology, which individually has the potential to double existing panel output. Developments have been made in holographic film, hybrid panels and manufacturing efficiencies. Solargy has tasked its research team to review the state of panel technology and develop a model to integrate readily available technologies into a manufacturing process to develop solar panels to produce a minimum of 500 watts and optimally to get a 1000 watts per panel for ground mounted applications. The technology already exists. We simply have to aggregate it into a product and produce the panels, which we plan to do in our manufacturing plant, scheduled to be online for the third quarter of 2010."

"The net effect of high output solar panels of 500 to 1000 watts for each panel will be to reduce the area required for any solar panel installation by at least 50 %, thereby reducing the land cost and enabling faster return on investment."

Solargy Systems Inc, is a systems integrator of alternative energy technologies. Solargy Systems Inc already has power purchase agreements (PPA) totalling 30 MW and expects to secure additional PPAs in the months ahead. The technologies we use will provide solutions to the high cost of energy in emerging markets by selling and installing small power systems ranging from 1 MW for large commercial applications to 20 MW and larger hybrid systems by using combinations of solar and wind or waste and solar. The combinations we use will be determined by local conditions.

This press release contains "forward-looking" statements as that term is defined by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (the "Exchange Act"). All statements that are included in this press release other than statements of historical fact are "forward-looking" statements. Although Solargy Systems Inc believes that the expectations reflecting in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will materialize. Important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations as disclosed herein, including without limitation, in conjunction with these forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

SOURCE Solargy Systems Inc.

Bing on the rise

Google is the royalty of search, so powerful that even its name is used as a synonym for searching. But funny thing. I was talking to someone this week who said he'd "binged" for something.

Bing? What the hell is Bing? Those were the exact words from another conversation I had last week, with my retired next-door-neighbor. He'd seen Bing mentioned in a newspaper article that he was reading. Knowing I'm connected with the Internet in some way, he came to ask me more after spotting me outside.

Bing, of course, is Microsoft's "new" search engine launched earlier this year to challenge Google. I put quotes around the word new because Microsoft has had its own search engine since 1998. Formerly called Live Search, previously called MSN Search before that, Bing is Microsoft's hope that the third time really is a charm. Bing brings a new look and some new features to the Microsoft search engine. Bing's also got a multi-million dollar marketing campaign backing it.

Is it working? Microsoft just went over a 10% share of the US search market for the first time in ages. That person I'd mentioned having "binged" something rather than "googled" it. That's just one anecdotal story, of course, but it's coming directly out of Microsoft's marketing campaign.

I'd say the word is getting out. But is moving the dial? The person who'd "binged it" told me he hasn't been back to Bing. Google still safely has 65 percent of search share for itself. Google's a hard habit to break.

In fact, Google's not just a habit. It's a virtual best friend for many people. In the past, we depended on friends, family and professionals for advice. These days, we turn to search engines for a range of issues, from deeply personal questions to trivia answers. Google is the leading search engine. Like a best friend, Google always there for us, listening and offering help. Google challengers like Bing are the equivalent of someone you don't know walking up and saying they want to be your new best friend. Thanks, but I'm covered.

Still, friends do change. And at the very least, the competition is making Google sit up and take notice. After many rave reviews about search features that Google itself already offers (wow -- Bing lets you track flights!), Google rolled out a new consumer-oriented guide to its various search products (we let you track flights too!). And if things like Bing's new search-by-picture feature were to catch on, Google would likely roll out its own version.

It's not just Bing that's making Google react. Facebook lurks out there on the horizon, a community now 300 million strong, with social networking information that potentially could be used to make for better search results. It's data that Facebook holds to itself, one reason behind Google pushing a rival OpenSocial movement. As people have turned to Facebook for "people searching," an area the company wants to excel at, we've also seen Google rollout improvements to its own people search capabilities. Gotten your Google Profile yet?

Then there's Twitter. The company is appearing in so many places these days, in the way Google did during its early years, that I sometimes say Twitter when I mean Google. But how's all that supposedly self-indulgent twittering likely to make Google nervous?

Well, lots of those tweets are actually searches. Many people tweet questions out to their friends, families and others they follow on Twitter. Plenty get back answers, quickly, and from trusted sources. Twitter's not just a new best friend. It's access to hundreds of best friends, for advice.

Outside of tweeting, there's also Twitter Search itself. Was that an earthquake? Is your cable down? Twitter can tell you answers to such "real time" events even faster than Google.

Let's also remember Apple. All that "there's an app for that" stuff? Change "app" to "google" and you better understand the revolution happening via the iPhone. Google has seen mobile searches skyrocket since the iPhone came in, helped by Google being the default search tool. But want restaurant reviews? The UrbanSpoon app gives them to you better than Google can. Eventful's app keeps you updated on local happenings. There's a "google" for seemingly anything you might be interested in -- but they're not all run by Google.

It's easy to assume that when it comes to search, there's Google and nothing else. That was never the case. Some of Google's former competitors have fallen by the wayside, but new competitors like Facebook, Twitter and literally hundreds of smaller companies -- along with re-energized ones like Microsoft -- keep it from resting on its laurels.


Article by Danny Sullivan 2009

My Father in law is a genius

My father in law made a switch to be put in line with an inverter and a battery and it shuts off the battery juice to the inverter thus no drain on the battery from the inverter.

Interested in wind power?

This is a cool info blog on used wind systems: http://www.mywindpowersystem.com/marketplace/

a neat wind power article

Duke To Build 200-MW Top of the World Wind Farm, Ninth in the US
North Carolina, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

Duke Energy said this week that it plans to build and operate a 200-megawatt (MW) wind energy project near Casper, Wyoming. Known as the Top of the World Windpower Project, it will be the company's ninth U.S. wind farm and its fourth in Wyoming.

The project will feature at least 66 G.E. turbines with a capaity of 1.5 MW each.

Duke Energy will construct the Top of the World project on approximately 17,000 acres of private and public land it holds under long-term lease in Converse County. The project could reach commercial operation by the end of 2010.

PacifiCorp, which operates as Rocky Mountain Power in Wyoming, will purchase all of the electricity generated by the Top of the World project and the associated renewable energy credits (RECs) as part of a 20-year power purchase agreement.

PacifiCorp previously contracted to buy all of the output and RECs from Duke Energy's nearby 99-megawatt (MW) Campbell Hill Windpower Project, scheduled to come on line later this year.

"We've always believed Duke Energy could become a major player in the wind power industry if we adhered to our strategy for organic as well as opportunistic growth," said Wouter van Kempen, president of Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS), a business unit of Duke Energy that owns and develops renewable energy assets. "Including Top of the World - which will be our second-largest renewable energy facility - we'll have committed to four new wind projects totaling more than 360 megawatts this year alone."

Duke Energy expects to start construction of the Top of the World project in late 2009 or early 2010, upon receipt of all necessary permits. The project will feature at least 66 G.E. turbines with a capaity of 1.5 MW each. These units represent the balance of turbines Duke Energy arranged to purchase from G.E. in a procurement order announced in September 2008. Negotiations for the remainder of the wind turbine supply to be used at Top of the World are underway.

2nd part of article

However, the initial expense in creating the solar panel array can be quite high, especially if one buys a prefabricated panel, and become a victim of shameless profiteering. A single solar panel can go for around $500 to $800, with the most expensive parts being the solar cells (but only because you really need a lot of them). After the solar panel is up and working, maintenance cost is quite low. The problem is that an ordinary house will need more than just one panel.

For every problem, there is a solution. The answer to lowering the costs of installing a solar panel would be to build one from the ground up. There are hundreds of Do It Yourself kits in the market, and these come in different sizes. Should one feel doubtful about their building skills, they could always buy the smallest ones first, which are usually used as educational tools. They cost a lot less and the task would not be as overwhelming.

The next size to try would be the type of solar panels that will power only specific equipment or appliances, like the water heater or the Jacuzzi. After a while, the builder will probably get the hang of it and be churning out panels to cover the roof.

A school DIY kit often costs less than $100, and a full solar panel will cost about $200. Even if they mess up one kit and be able to succeed only on the second kit, they would still be able to save at least $100, though it really is not as hard as it seems. With a bit of practice, anyone can do it.

Another advantage of building the solar panel is the satisfaction of being able to create something useful with one’s own hands. It may not be a work of art in the first few tries, but it’s really not a beauty contest anyway.

More Information from the Author:

Visit HomemadeSolarEnergyPanels.Com to learn about do it yourself solar panels, how to build solar panels and the costs of building solar panels at home!

A neat new article

The green energy trend has certainly picked up momentum in the last year alone. Alternative energy researches that have long collected dust or put in the back burner are now taking the world stage, front and center. One of the leading contenders for this new (and hopefully, sustained) green energy research is finding a way to be more efficient in turning the sun’s light into electricity.

The idea that light can be turned into electricity (the process is more scientifically known as the “photovoltaic” effect) is nothing new, but the efficiency of the process has always been a little off. In the beginning, the first solar cell had a conversion efficiency of 1%. This means that only 1% of the light that is absorbed is actually turned into electricity. Today, that rate has come a long way, about 40%. It really isn’t comparable (yet) to the way fossil fuels can generate electricity but there are a number of advantages to sourcing electricity from the sun than from fossil fuels, like being environmentally friendly and easily installed.

Wind is growing

Signs of Impact
Project numbers and developer feedback indicate that the economic stimulus package is on the right path to bolster activity within the wind industry.
by Kathy Belyeu, AWEA
Washington, D.C. United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

On July 9, the U.S. Treasury Department and U.S. Department of Energy released the guidance for how wind farm developers can access cash grants in lieu of the investment tax credit. The grants, which were part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA, also known as the stimulus bill), are expected to help get wind projects built while capital markets remain difficult. The program began accepting applications at the end of July.

Visit this link for the article: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/08/signs-of-impact?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-September2-2009

New virus

A new virus on the net watch out for an e-mail from DHL do not open that tracking code attachment. The attachment has a virus!

A new solar controller

This is a nice write up about a new solar controller.

Did you know...

...that Morningstar's SunSaver MPPT controller reduces costs in off-grid PV systems up to 400Wp?


The SunSaver MPPT reduces PV system costs in several ways:

* Enables the use of lower cost grid-tie and thin film PV modules for small off-grid applications.

* Saves money on wiring cost by using a 36V PV array to charge a 24V or 12V battery, or a 24V array to charge a 12V battery.

* Boosts power 10-30% (depending on cell temperature and battery state-of-charge) through our advanced TrackStar™ MPPT tracking technology. Peak efficiency over 97%.

* Includes load control and 30 days of data logging.


Morningstar products are sold through PV dealers and distributors worldwide.

My solar panel does the job again

I was having some problems with my barn solar circuit so I took it down from the barn roof and brought it up to the house and attached it to a battery and did some tests and wow 20 plus volts and almost 1 amp and walla a day later I have a charged battery. I will check my barn circuit and see if I can get the charger working again. The panel is on my website at www.solarsavior.com. The panel can generate up to 1 amp of power and is very good for trikle charging.

Cooling a barn

I am going to add a battery controlled thermostat to my barn. I have several 12 volt muffin fans for my horses that they love to stand by at night and it also keeps the flies away a bit. The problem is those fans really pull the juice. If I do not get out fast enough to turn off the fans it really can dog down the battery. The solution was created by my father in law who made a solar thermostat that can turn the fans off and on depending on the temp of the barn. Think about it, it can and will work. If you are interested just e-mail me at jrossini@rossini.com.

Solar credits are coming if only state by state

I believe slowly solar tax credits are coming. My state Kansas is a stubborn state on energy but it recently added an updated energy policy. Here is an interesting article to read about NY additional solar tax incentives.

Gillibrand Announces Key Senate Panel Approves $500,000 For LIPA Program to Help Long Island Homes and Businesses Install Panels
July 13, 2009
by New York RealEstateRama

Category: News || Green Home, Technology | No Comments

Releases “Green Grants Guide” For Local Communities, Businesses to Access Federal Aid, Expand Renewable Energy Initiatives

Riverhead, NY - July 13, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) – Standing at the Riverhead Free Library on Long Island, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that that a key Senate panel approved $500,000 to provide rebates for homes and businesses that install solar panels to generate energy. The federal investment will go towards Long Island Power Authority’s (LIPA) Solar Pioneer and Solar Entrepreneur programs, to provide incentives and rebates to homeowners, businesses, and schools to install photovoltaic (PV) systems. Clearing the Senate Appropriations Committee hurdle is a significant step towards securing these much needed federal dollars. Senator Gillibrand also pledged to work with the community to obtain additional funding from the economic recovery plan.

“Developing new, clean, homegrown sources of energy is a vital part of our economic recovery,” Senator Gillibrand said. “These dollars will make solar panel installation more accessible and affordable for Long Island – helping to cut emissions, improve our environment, and lower our energy bills. There are 107 libraries on Long Island, like the one we’re standing at today. If every one of them installed the same system, we would see the environmental impact equivalent of removing 214 cars from the road and avoiding the consumption of 83,567 gallons of gas per year.”

“I commend Senator Gillibrand for demonstrating her commitment to clean renewable energy on Long Island,” said LIPA President and CEO Kevin S. Law. “These federal dollars will bolster LIPA’s successful Solar Pioneer and Solar Entrepreneur programs by helping us continue to offer rebates to our residential, commercial and municipal customers, in turn, helping them to generate more environmentally responsible energy and helping them to lower their bills.”

From January to June 1, LIPA has received nearly 400 applications, which is more than a 1/3 of an increase over last year’s pace. This $500,000 federal investment will assist LIPA continue this rebate this program to get more Long Island homes and businesses running on clean, affordable, homegrown energy. If they are able to secure more federal dollars through stimulus funds, the program could be bolstered even more.

As part of her continued efforts to ensure that New Yorkers are getting back what they send down to Washington, Senator Gillibrand today released her “Green Grants Guidebook.” This resource will serve as a clearinghouse of information for citizens, businesses and community leaders to access funding opportunities to make energy efficiency improvements as well as incentives and funding opportunities for installation of alternative energy systems. These improvements will help consumers and businesses reduce energy costs while contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gasses.

More than half the cost of solar installations may be offset for homes and businesses with LIPA rebates and federal tax benefits. Applications for this program continue to come in at record numbers. LIPA has more than 1,700 Solar Pioneer Customers throughout the service territory. These customers are generating over 9 megawatts of non-polluting solar electricity on Long Island, which is the equivalent of reducing CO2 emissions by 6,260 tons a year.

To date, LIPA has provided rebates totaling more than $40 million to customers who have installed a PV system on their home or business. By continuing this program and providing assistance to more customers, Long Islanders could see lower monthly bills, reduced energy consumption, and benefits to the environment.

One of LIPA’s 1,700 Solar Pioneer customers is the Riverhead Free Library, which recently installed a 10.08kW solar system on the roof of their building. The installation cost $80,000 and they received a rebate from LIPA in the amount of $45,000. The environmental benefits of the system are equivalent to removing 2 cars from the road or avoiding the consumption of 781 gallons of gas per year. The library’s cost savings is app $2,500/year, and its energy savings is 12,902kwh/year.

“I would like to thank Senator Gillibrand for her successful efforts to assure that going green with solar will continue to make good sense for our finances as well as our environment,” stated Riverhead Supervisor, Phil Cardinale.

Primary grant opportunities for energy efficiency and green projects include:

* The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
* The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Biomass Program, which works with industry, academia and our national laboratory partners on research projects in biofuels, bioproducts and biopower.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program, which makes grants to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to help reduce energy costs and consumption, and help meet the nation’s critical energy needs.
* The U.S. Department of Energy’s Conservation Research and Development grant program, which provides funding to conduct a balanced, long-term research effort in Buildings Technologies, Industrial Technologies, Freedom Car and Transportation Technologies and Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure technologies.
* The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Industrial Competitiveness Through Energy, Environment and Economics grant program, which provides funding to state and local governments to work on projects in waste reduction and pollution prevention, and other energy conserving initiatives.

Solar emergency power

I have made several small medium and large emergency solar back up power kits. These kits can drive lights, fans and tv or radios for hours at a time. When the power comes back just put it back in the sun and it will recharge. If you would like to get one of these I can sell you the directions it is relatively simple. The cost ranges from about $199 to $499.00 depending on the solar panel and inverter used. I have built products up to 2400 watts and it can power quite a few things.

If you are interested just e-mail me at jrossini@rossini.com.

Solar Gardens a neat touch

Here is an article written about a solar garden. You can buy these panels and lighting in several places but wanted to share with you.


Is It Possible To Use Solar Electricity to Power Up Your Gardens?
Jul 13, 2009 in General

You have already put so much effort to create the garden of your dreams. You have created the masterpiece, the focal setting everyone envies. Nevertheless, you still also need illumination to take your garden to full advantage. To have the best illumination, you need garden lights. And to achieve the effect that you wanted you need to consume electric energy for the whole duration. It’s not eco-friendly and it is costly.

Now, with the help of sun light powered lamp, you can still light up your beautiful garden without sacrificing the environments. The solar garden lighting technology features a solar panel on top of the fixture which collects the rays of the sun throughout the day. The collection of rays of the sun in turn charges up the battery so that your garden light can function throughout the night. There are many types of solar garden lights available in the market now. Your specific needs will be decided what types of solar batteries you will use.

There are different types of garden lighting you can use. For front yard, you can simply use a standard one which you can easily find in any hardware store in your city while for backyard, you may need a more powerful lighting system depends on various events you want to hold for instance. Your friendly hardware store sales person can help you with this.

Every corner of your home should be well illuminated to ensure the safety and security as well as visual attractions for visitors. Proper lighting is very important for any home owner and making sure that you know exactly how much you are willing to spend as well as what your needs are when it comes to the lighting. This will help you make the right choice for your needs. Considering solar garden lights will definitely be a great help in your budget as well as a great help for the environment.

A signal bounced off of Venus

This has nothing to do with solar but I am a ham radio operator and I think it is a neat event.

EVE ! - Radio Amateurs bounce a signal off Venus

Radio Amateurs have achieved the very first reception of amateur signals bounced off the planet Venus, over 50 million km away - EVE (Earth-Venus-Earth)

Peter Guelzow DB2OS, President of AMSAT-DL has provided a description of this landmark achievement.

On March 25th, 2009 a team from the German space organisation AMSAT-DL reached another milestone on its way to an own interplanetary probe towards planet Mars.

The ground station at the Bochum observatory transmitted radio signals to Venus. After travelling almost 100 million kilometers and a round trip delay of about 5 minutes, they were clearly received as echoes from the surface of Venus.

Receiving these planetary echoes is a first for Germany and Europe. In addition, this is the farthest distance crossed by radio amateurs, over 100 times further than echoes from the moon (EME reflections).

For receiving the EVE signals, an FFT analysis with an integration time of 5 minutes was used. After integrating for 2 minutes only, the reflected signals were clearly visible in the display. Despite the bad weather, signals from Venus could be detected from 1038UT until the planet reached the local horizon.

The 2.4 GHz high power amplifier used for this achievement is described in the current AMSAT-DL journal.
This represented a crucial test for a final key component of the planned P5-A Mars mission. By receiving echoes from Venus, the ground and command station for the Mars probe has been cleared for operational use and the AMSAT team is now gearing up for building the P5-A space probe.

For financing the actual construction and launch, AMSAT-DL is currently
in negotiation with the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) amongst others, to obtain financial support for the remaining budget of 20 Mil Euros.

AMSAT-DL wants to show that low-cost interplanetary exploration is possible with its approach.

More information and the link to the official press release [in German]:
http://www.amsat-dl.org//index.php?o...=166&Itemid=97

The EVE experiment was repeated on Thursday, March 26th for several hours with good echoes from Venus. Morse code was used to transmit the well known “HI“ signature known from the AMSAT OSCAR satellites.

LED clothing

Well not solar yet but I have seen this coming and soon a solar shirt :)

e-textile DIY - light up your clothing
Posted by eric
on March 28, 2009


e_textile_DIY_fur_scarve.jpgOur e-textile DIY project tip for this weekend has been around for more than a year on Instructables posted by Enlighted the company that is producing and selling a wide range of illuminated clothing and other fashion items.

There are two highly interesting aspects I found in the ‘Color-Changing Lighted Faux Fur Scarf‘ instruction: the use of color-changing RGB LEDs that have a built-in flashing or fading circuit and the use of buttons to support and place LEDs onto textiles.

The color-changing RGB LEDs are very interesting as they do not need any circuit to fade through the color spectrum, you can just put them in parallel, connect them to a battery between 3V and 9V and up you go.

No additional resistor or any circuit is needed! Sure it will go through the same light changing sequence without the option to change that but given the simplicity of getting color changing pattern is great, especially for a quick, simple prototyping project.

The other tip I find highly interesting is the use of conventional buttons as platform/holder for the LEDs but I can imagine this principle can be useful for other electronic components that need to be fixed on textiles.

e_textile_button_holder.jpg

Two great inspirational ideas ‘hidden’ in the ‘Color-Changing Lighted Faux Fur Scarf’ Instructables. Maybe because I am not a fan of this kind of scarf I have overlooked for so long the two highly interesting smart crafting tips.

A nerdy hat

I dont sell these but it looks cool:
Solar Powered Fan Hat: Wearable Gadget Looks and Feels Cool
by Fashion Finds


Spring is in the air, and it's time to start shopping for those unique fashions to build your spring and summer wardrobe. A geeky new wearable gadget, the solar powered fan hat, is the perfect fashion accessory for spring or summer; with its trucker design, it both looks and feels cool.

here is the article link with the hat picture:
http://inventorspot.com/articles/solar_powered_fan_hat_wearable_gadget_looks_and_feels_cool_24822

a solar kit impressive installation

Recently we sold a solar kit and the owner installed it and said this:

Thank you for all your help. I am an Architect and building, even a simple, photo-voltaic system helps me understand how to design and specify these types of systems on my projects. See attached. It really turned out great! I was even able to wire in a standard-type wall switch so I could get all the lights to come on at once. My wife will really like this feature.



Sincerely,



Aaron

The great change

This is a neat article to read. It touches how solar must be teh way!

Op-Ed Columnist
The Inflection Is Near?

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By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: March 7, 2009

Sometimes the satirical newspaper The Onion is so right on, I can’t resist quoting from it. Consider this faux article from June 2005 about America’s addiction to Chinese exports:
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Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Thomas L. Friedman
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FENGHUA, China — Chen Hsien, an employee of Fenghua Ningbo Plastic Works Ltd., a plastics factory that manufactures lightweight household items for Western markets, expressed his disbelief Monday over the “sheer amount of [garbage] Americans will buy. Often, when we’re assigned a new order for, say, ‘salad shooters,’ I will say to myself, ‘There’s no way that anyone will ever buy these.’ ... One month later, we will receive an order for the same product, but three times the quantity. How can anyone have a need for such useless [garbage]? I hear that Americans can buy anything they want, and I believe it, judging from the things I’ve made for them,” Chen said. “And I also hear that, when they no longer want an item, they simply throw it away. So wasteful and contemptible.”

Let’s today step out of the normal boundaries of analysis of our economic crisis and ask a radical question: What if the crisis of 2008 represents something much more fundamental than a deep recession? What if it’s telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last 50 years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall — when Mother Nature and the market both said: “No more.”

We have created a system for growth that depended on our building more and more stores to sell more and more stuff made in more and more factories in China, powered by more and more coal that would cause more and more climate change but earn China more and more dollars to buy more and more U.S. T-bills so America would have more and more money to build more and more stores and sell more and more stuff that would employ more and more Chinese ...

We can’t do this anymore.

“We created a way of raising standards of living that we can’t possibly pass on to our children,” said Joe Romm, a physicist and climate expert who writes the indispensable blog climateprogress.org. We have been getting rich by depleting all our natural stocks — water, hydrocarbons, forests, rivers, fish and arable land — and not by generating renewable flows.

“You can get this burst of wealth that we have created from this rapacious behavior,” added Romm. “But it has to collapse, unless adults stand up and say, ‘This is a Ponzi scheme. We have not generated real wealth, and we are destroying a livable climate ...’ Real wealth is something you can pass on in a way that others can enjoy.”

Over a billion people today suffer from water scarcity; deforestation in the tropics destroys an area the size of Greece every year — more than 25 million acres; more than half of the world’s fisheries are over-fished or fished at their limit.

“Just as a few lonely economists warned us we were living beyond our financial means and overdrawing our financial assets, scientists are warning us that we’re living beyond our ecological means and overdrawing our natural assets,” argues Glenn Prickett, senior vice president at Conservation International. But, he cautioned, as environmentalists have pointed out: “Mother Nature doesn’t do bailouts.”

One of those who has been warning me of this for a long time is Paul Gilding, the Australian environmental business expert. He has a name for this moment — when both Mother Nature and Father Greed have hit the wall at once — “The Great Disruption.”

“We are taking a system operating past its capacity and driving it faster and harder,” he wrote me. “No matter how wonderful the system is, the laws of physics and biology still apply.” We must have growth, but we must grow in a different way. For starters, economies need to transition to the concept of net-zero, whereby buildings, cars, factories and homes are designed not only to generate as much energy as they use but to be infinitely recyclable in as many parts as possible. Let’s grow by creating flows rather than plundering more stocks.

Gilding says he’s actually an optimist. So am I. People are already using this economic slowdown to retool and reorient economies. Germany, Britain, China and the U.S. have all used stimulus bills to make huge new investments in clean power. South Korea’s new national paradigm for development is called: “Low carbon, green growth.” Who knew? People are realizing we need more than incremental changes — and we’re seeing the first stirrings of growth in smarter, more efficient, more responsible ways.

In the meantime, says Gilding, take notes: “When we look back, 2008 will be a momentous year in human history. Our children and grandchildren will ask us, ‘What was it like? What were you doing when it started to fall apart? What did you think? What did you do?’ ” Often in the middle of something momentous, we can’t see its significance. But for me there is no doubt: 2008 will be the marker — the year when ‘The Great Disruption’ began.

My new coming soon product

I will be offering especially to those near the greater Kansas City area a turn key installed emergency power system and alternative energy product. The system will be based around an approx 45 watt 3 amp solar system, a 500 watt inverter, a regulator, and a combination of AC/DC lighting.

The system will be constantly charging a large deep cycle battery and the lights that it will power will be designed for regular indoor lamps bought off the shelf. Should you lose your power you may go turn on a light or several back up lights that can be on for several hours of use.

The system can also if configured can run a fan or two both AC or DC for a period of time. It may also run a TV or even a computer and monitor.

Bottom line, the severe weather season is approaching and this product unlike a gas generator can be turned on fast and with a much smaller danger foot print.

If you are interested e-mail me jrossini@rossini.com.

Different fluorescent colored lights

I am sure I spelled the fluorescent light wrong but recently I went and bought a two pack and just figured it was the same old kinda of yellowish shinning light. I put this light bulb in my barn and turned on the power and walla it came to life and it was a bright whitish color and very very bright. I recommend this type of light in the future. I will try to get the brand type and blog it on here.

My barn now has three AC inverted lights and three LED lights. I have one 35 amp hour gel cell battery charged by a 17 volt 20 watt, 1 amp solar panel. My goal is to add at least two more AC lights and one DC LED light. I am currently using a 100 watt inverter but I may soon replace it with a 400 watt inverter to give me a few more watts of push power :)

This spring I may reassemble my old 75 watt wind generator and put it back in service. Wind in Kansas is almost always blowing so I am thinking that this will be fun to do except getting up on the barn yukkola.

By the way I will be adding two 1000 watt inverters to the acc. area of my shopping cart. I have one of these inverters and it is outstanding. I will be selling these for $100.00 each plus shipping.

The 1000 watt inverters have a max surge of 2000 watts. You can run several items with a 1000 watt inverter.

Ok enough for now, I hope you continue to come back and I will keep putting up interesting information about alternative energy power.

Your own little power system?

If you are interested in a small power system to light a room what would you need?

First a darn good gel cell battery at least 25 to 35 amp hours

Second you need a good inverter at least 700 watt inverter

Third you need a good regulator to cover at least 4 amps

Fourth you need a good 20 watt 1 amp solar panel

Fifth you need stout hook up wire I recommend at least 12 to 14 guage wiring

Sixth you need good advice of what to do with all this stuff :)

Well if you want me to get it for you you are looking around $500.00 but you will be able to run several lights, run a small TV, run a lap top, and much more.

Call me at 913-244-6132 or e-mail me at jrossini@rossini.com

Possible new energy tax credits?

Obama Considering $25B in Tax Credits for Renewables

SustainableBusiness.com News
Today's News Stories:

President-elect Barack Obama and his financial team are reportedly considering increasing stimulus support for renewables in order to meet the goal he announced last week of doubling renewable energy production in three years.

A Washington Post article set the amount at $25 billion in tax credits for renewable energy production, plug-in hybrid vehicles and biofuels.

The increase is thought to be in response to input given by Congressional leaadrs who reviewed Obama's stimulus plan last week. The increased amount might also be in response to a joint request made last week by the solar and wind industries for greater tax incentives.

Congressional leaders said they want to have economic stimulus legislation together by mid-February. Cleantech initiatives being considered include:

* a two-year, $8.6 million extension of the production tax credit (PTC), which favors the wind industry
* refundable tax credits for the solar and wind industries
* tax credits for service stations that install pumps for high-ethanol content fuel
* $7,500 tax credit for hybrid vehicles

Also under consideration is an initiative promoted by Representatives Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) calling for a "green bank" with $10-$20 billion in funding for low interest loans to finance energy efficiency improvements to homes.

working by the light of my solar savior

Yet another day I am up early..4:30 Am I make coffee, feed the cats, work out then it is on to the office and work I go. The time is around 5:30 Am an dit is pitch black. I flip a witch an don comes my battery/inverter/solar solar savior and my light comes on and lights the whole room. It is now 730 Am 2.5 hours of no KC Power and Light light. :) it will be sunny so I will let the batteries charge for a while.

You can use or go green in small ways, it is possible!

Solar Power is possible

This article by beach Home Designs shows that you can have your cake and eat it too:

Solar power is a possible future for power in our homes. Year after year green ideas become stronger and solar power become stronger with them. Too bad that to power a house with solar energy it should be situated in right part of the planet. Zero Energy Design is one of not many studios that add complex solar solutions in their house designs.

Beach house in Truro is one of their works. It was designed to become perfect accommodation of a large family when their living their Boston residence for weekends and summers. There are a lot of bedrooms around the house and many of them have luxury water views. The roof sports a large solar electric array. A battery back-up and energy management system store electricity from the solar array to ensure the basic functions of the home through blackouts without the use of a gas-powered generator. Aside from energy efficient appliances and water heaters lighting system is also designed to be energy efficient
The combination the energy efficient building envelope and systems with the solar array will allow the home to produce as much energy as it uses over the course of a year.

Solar Power is growing

Here is a small ad about a new large project in Fla. it is very encouraging.

Solar power is reaching new heights

Sara K. Clarke | Sentinel Staff Writer
January 12, 2009

Orlando's sprawling convention center is about to "go green" in a big way this year with the installation of a massive solar-power system on the roof of its North/South Building.

Workers are to begin installing the system this month and complete their work in May, said Jerry Daigle, deputy general manager of the Orange County Convention Center.

Center officials boast that the solar array will be the largest rooftop photovoltaic system in the southeastern U.S., and they hope it will become a "national highlight."

"We're excited about it," said Tom Ackert, the center's executive director. "It can become a demonstration model for not only other convention centers, but commercial buildings."

wind power

Wind can be a great source of power too! here is a neat article:

Auto Parts Store Embraces Small Wind Turbines
Greenville Auto Skystream turbines

Greenville, NY – This small town Southwest of Albany experiences plenty of wind. But when large utility-scale wind farm developers inquired, local residents were concerned about the impact on their landscape.

With small-scale wind power, the story is different. After Skystream was introduced here, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

After learning about small wind power at a Little Live Earth event organized by his daughter and her friends, Mark Wilcox decided to install wind power at his business. Since October, two Skystream 3.7 wind turbines have provided Wilcox with 20% of the electricity used by his store, Greenville Auto and Truck Parts.

Wilcox spent about $30,000 to have the two systems installed, and he says it is worth it, whatever the length of the payback period. “I’m trying to do my part, leaving less of a footprint,” Wilcox says. “I feel good about it.”

Wilcox plans to add more turbines, about one per year, until the store is completely powered by wind.

Located on a state highway and across the street from a high school, the turbines, which sit on a hill above the store, draw a lot of attention.

A homeowner next door became so interested that he is buying his own Skystream.