Friday, July 24, 2009
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.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, July 13, 2009
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
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.
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.
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.
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