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."
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, December 22, 2008
New solar technology?
New and better solar powered panels coming? Thin film is coming. Did yo know I was using this on small applications for the last several years. I will be adding a small panel on my site for you to buy and test shortly.
Solar Power Using An Alloy Film Better Than Silicon
Categories
Energy solutions
Save the environment
Further to: "Off-The-Grid" Right Now here is some great news. Starting with following two articles - a very interesting technology to follow up on.
..."solar photovoltaic technology can be produced in any desired amount, from a few milliwatts to many megawatts, if so desired. It is not necessary to erect large power stations to serve a community with energy from this technology.
A typical middle-class suburban family needs only about 30 square metres (about the size of a living room) of solar panels to supply all of its electricity needs."..
This highly efficient Copper-Indium-Gallium-Diselenide (CIGS) alloy eclipses Silicon and should finally make solar energy possible.
Solar Power Using An Alloy Film Better Than Silicon
Categories
Energy solutions
Save the environment
Further to: "Off-The-Grid" Right Now here is some great news. Starting with following two articles - a very interesting technology to follow up on.
..."solar photovoltaic technology can be produced in any desired amount, from a few milliwatts to many megawatts, if so desired. It is not necessary to erect large power stations to serve a community with energy from this technology.
A typical middle-class suburban family needs only about 30 square metres (about the size of a living room) of solar panels to supply all of its electricity needs."..
This highly efficient Copper-Indium-Gallium-Diselenide (CIGS) alloy eclipses Silicon and should finally make solar energy possible.
The solar horse riding helmet!
Here it is from Yahoo creative commons a neat horse riding hat!
Solar powered safety lit bike helmet.
Weatherproof, versatile, changeable parts, doubles as a AAA battery charger.
Weatherproof, changable 5 or 10mm flashing LEDs in O ring sealed mounts. Flexible weatherproof solar panel. Panel and batteries are detachable from helmet for use as a AAA battery charger for camping. Removable AAA batteries can be charged in wall if needed, or regular AAAs can be used.
> Charge time: 5-8 hours in full sunlight to charge 4 AA batteries. I used 3 AAA batteries, so it is much quicker. It will charge in bright cloud cover as well.
> Runtime being tested, but so far, seems like several hours.
To me this is a well-suited application of solar powered trickle charge panels. I only ride at night about an hour or so a week, so during the day the helmet can sit in a window and charge. Helmet mounted lights also free me from having lights mounted on my bike that need to be detached to keep from being stolen. It works in the rain and so far is always charged when I need it.
This project could be done in many different ways. The key breakthroughs for me after many trials and errors, were to use a simple soft case Velcro wrapped to the helmet, and to use Black Shoe Goo! I think it's the new duct tape. Also, most of the work was getting an easy rapid prototype idea to work rain or shine for months on end and be versatile with replaceable parts.
Solar powered safety lit bike helmet.
Weatherproof, versatile, changeable parts, doubles as a AAA battery charger.
Weatherproof, changable 5 or 10mm flashing LEDs in O ring sealed mounts. Flexible weatherproof solar panel. Panel and batteries are detachable from helmet for use as a AAA battery charger for camping. Removable AAA batteries can be charged in wall if needed, or regular AAAs can be used.
> Charge time: 5-8 hours in full sunlight to charge 4 AA batteries. I used 3 AAA batteries, so it is much quicker. It will charge in bright cloud cover as well.
> Runtime being tested, but so far, seems like several hours.
To me this is a well-suited application of solar powered trickle charge panels. I only ride at night about an hour or so a week, so during the day the helmet can sit in a window and charge. Helmet mounted lights also free me from having lights mounted on my bike that need to be detached to keep from being stolen. It works in the rain and so far is always charged when I need it.
This project could be done in many different ways. The key breakthroughs for me after many trials and errors, were to use a simple soft case Velcro wrapped to the helmet, and to use Black Shoe Goo! I think it's the new duct tape. Also, most of the work was getting an easy rapid prototype idea to work rain or shine for months on end and be versatile with replaceable parts.
A neat solar engine!
Solar engine
A simple circuit, designed to gather energy from light, store the energy, and then release that energy in bursts to drive a motor, coil, or some other circuit . These are variously called Solar Engines, solarengines, and SEs; in strict electronic terms, they are called relaxation oscillators. The whole purpose of a solar engine is to act like a power "savings account" -- a small trickle of incoming energy is saved up until a useable amount is stored. This stored energy is then released in a burst, in order to drive some useful (if only sporadic and incremental) work.
Various solar engine designs "trigger" (release their stored energy) based any of a number of criteria.
Solar engines have a number of advantages:
* With a solar engine, a solar-powered robot can be made to work (if only sporadically) in even low light levels.
* Solar engines allow solar cell size to be minimized
o Saves money
o Saves weight
o Allows room for the solar cell to be ruggedized.
Four types of solar engines have been defined and built to date, categorized by their trigger mechanism:
* Type 1 - voltage controlled trigger. This is by far the predominant form of solar engine, since they are "efficient enough" for most uses, and pretty simple to build.
* Type 2 - time controlled trigger. These aren't terribly efficient, but are handy for 'bots that need activity at specific times.
* Type 3 - charge curve differentiated, i.e., it triggers when the charge rate of the capacitor(s) slows down. These are (theoretically at least) the most efficient.
* Nocturnal -- These solar engines charge up when it's light, and discharge (i.e., power a load) when it's dark.
For more information, and a whole slew of solar engine designs, see the Solar Engine section of the BEAM Reference Library's BEAM Circuits collection.
A simple circuit, designed to gather energy from light, store the energy, and then release that energy in bursts to drive a motor, coil, or some other circuit . These are variously called Solar Engines, solarengines, and SEs; in strict electronic terms, they are called relaxation oscillators. The whole purpose of a solar engine is to act like a power "savings account" -- a small trickle of incoming energy is saved up until a useable amount is stored. This stored energy is then released in a burst, in order to drive some useful (if only sporadic and incremental) work.
Various solar engine designs "trigger" (release their stored energy) based any of a number of criteria.
Solar engines have a number of advantages:
* With a solar engine, a solar-powered robot can be made to work (if only sporadically) in even low light levels.
* Solar engines allow solar cell size to be minimized
o Saves money
o Saves weight
o Allows room for the solar cell to be ruggedized.
Four types of solar engines have been defined and built to date, categorized by their trigger mechanism:
* Type 1 - voltage controlled trigger. This is by far the predominant form of solar engine, since they are "efficient enough" for most uses, and pretty simple to build.
* Type 2 - time controlled trigger. These aren't terribly efficient, but are handy for 'bots that need activity at specific times.
* Type 3 - charge curve differentiated, i.e., it triggers when the charge rate of the capacitor(s) slows down. These are (theoretically at least) the most efficient.
* Nocturnal -- These solar engines charge up when it's light, and discharge (i.e., power a load) when it's dark.
For more information, and a whole slew of solar engine designs, see the Solar Engine section of the BEAM Reference Library's BEAM Circuits collection.
LED and 110 power in the barn
I went out yesterday and it was about 10 below wind chill and I pulled a chain in the door and one LED light came on, then I walked a bit pulled another chain, then I walked a bit and pressed a button and on came my 110 knights and walked a bit more and turned on another LED light and there my barn was flooded with more than enough light to feed the horse, and put her up.
The cold really affects the florressants but does not in anyway effect the LED lighting.
Just thought I would tell you :) All this is run by one 12 volt 35 amp/hr jell battery and 1-1amp solar panel. Call me if yu have any questions.
The cold really affects the florressants but does not in anyway effect the LED lighting.
Just thought I would tell you :) All this is run by one 12 volt 35 amp/hr jell battery and 1-1amp solar panel. Call me if yu have any questions.
working by my LED solar light
I am up early in frigid KC and once again I am using my 12 volt LED light and I am typing away. No power from the big screw I mean power company being used. Of course I am using 110V for my laptop. My goal one day is to power my entire room by DC/AC power. Recently I read that a small roof top solar system would cost about $20,000 installed...yikes but I will try to save to do this...in the mean time I will try to do it on the cheap :)
I just bought a 1000 watt inverter for my power AC/DC power back up system. I wanted 2000 Watts but money made me compromise. I will use it to power or test power a pc in the office. we will see. I have a 60 amp hour battery and a 1 amp 17 watt solar panel to trickle charge the system and now the 1000 watt inverter. I will buy a nice regulator and put it all together. So my lights in the office and at least one computer will be working on full back up power. I will keep you posted.
I just bought a 1000 watt inverter for my power AC/DC power back up system. I wanted 2000 Watts but money made me compromise. I will use it to power or test power a pc in the office. we will see. I have a 60 amp hour battery and a 1 amp 17 watt solar panel to trickle charge the system and now the 1000 watt inverter. I will buy a nice regulator and put it all together. So my lights in the office and at least one computer will be working on full back up power. I will keep you posted.
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