solarevolution.net

By Jeff Salton

00:14 September 2, 2009 PDT

"...Ceramatec's battery comprises a large piece of solid sodium metal mated to a sulfur compound by a paper-thin ceramic membrane. The membrane conducts ions - electrically-charged particles - back and forth to generate a current. The company calculates that the battery will be able to sustain 20-40kW/h of energy into a refrigerator-size housing that operates at around or below 90°C. This is possibly the only way that this type of dense battery technology will ever be approved for household use – safe, small (relatively) and cheap to purchase.

Ceramatec says its new generation of battery would deliver a continuous flow of 5kW of electricity over four hours. If that doesn’t power your whole house it will certainly supplement it. And these batteries are expected to withstand daily discharge/recharge cycles over 10 years (3,650 times). The batteries would hopefully sell for around USD$2,000, which is less than 3c per kW/h over the battery's life. Conventional power from the grid typically costs around 8c per kW/h – and continues to rise...."

I've been interested in and involved with solar energy since before the first "Whole Earth Catalog." We generated our own electric power for some twenty years using solar and diesel. We used a lot of 12 volt."

Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Solar Energy Facts-The Trombe Wall

Trombe was the name of a French engineer who developed the Trombe wall, which forms a large solar thermal collector. A typical Trombe wall is 8 to 16 inches thick masonry faced with a double layer of glass which is placed a few inches from the wall to create a small airspace. The wall absorbs heat from sunlight passing through the glass. The heat is stored in the wall and conducted slowly inward through the masonry. In the northern hemisphere of course we want oiur wall to face south for access to direct sunlight. A dark surface on the side facing the sun facilitates heat absorption.

Solar energy facts show that the wall can be made of concrete, brick, rammed earth, or adobe. This is a technique that can be used for a new building or a solar retrofit. If it is designed right, this method of passive solar can cut down significantly on heating and cooling energy demands. The sun begins to heat the wall about midmorning, and continues to heat it all day. When the sun goes down the wall radiates its heat to the room inside. Rooms heated by a Trombe wall feel more comfortable because of the gentle infrared heat given off by the wall's surface.

Builders can use Trombe walls along with windows, eaves, and other design features, to achieve a balance of solar heating and cooling for a building's interior. Shading and vents to the outside can prevent the wall from gaining heat during the warmer months. A Trombe wall's performance is inhibited if the interior of the wall is not open to the room inside. For example, if shelves or cabinets are placed against the surface. Sometimes designers place projections on the inside wall to prevent bookshelves being placed against the wall. One of the things to remember when a Trombe wall is installed using adobe, rammed earth, concrete or other masonry, is that it may take a full heating season for the wall to dry out completely. The second season should show the true results.

Our solar energy facts lead us to the conclusion that a design including a Trombe wall is well worth consideration. This technique when combined with baseboard heating or even a small wood or gas stove is an excellent choice for new construction. A solar greenhouse including a Trombe wall is a viable option for a solar retrofit. Any good design will incorporate correct use of insulation. When I am ready to put up a new building, I will definitely include a Trombe wall as a part of the whole.

"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."
- Thomas Edison, 1931

Solar Knowledge: What is a ...?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In English law, ancient lights or a right to light is a form of easement that gives a long-standing owner of a building with windows a right to maintain the level of illumination. They are most usually acquired under the Prescription Act 1832.

In effect, the owner of a building with windows that have received natural daylight for 20 years or more is entitled to forbid any construction or other obstruction that would deprive him or her of that illumination. Neighbours cannot build anything that would block the light without permission. The owner may build more or larger windows but cannot enlarge his new windows before the new period of 20 years has expired. It is also possible for a right to light to exist if granted expressly by deed, or granted impliedly, for example under the rule in Wheeldon v. Burrows.

Once a right to light exists the owner of the right is entitled to "sufficient light according to the ordinary notions of mankind": Colls v. Home & Colonial Stores Ltd (1904). Courts rely on expert witnesses to define this term. Since the 1920s, experts have used a method proposed by Percy Waldram to assist them with this. Waldram suggested that ordinary people require 1 foot-candle of illuminance (approximately 10 lux) for reading and other work involving visual discrimination. This equates to a sky factor (similar to the daylight factor) of 0.2%. Today, Waldram's methods are increasingly subject to criticism[1][2] and the future of expert evidence in rights to light cases is currently the subject of much debate within the surveying profession.[3]

After World War II, owners of buildings could gain new rights by registering properties that had been destroyed in bombings and the period was temporarily increased to 27 years.

In the centre of London, near Chinatown and Covent Garden, particularly in back alleyways, signs saying "Ancient Lights" can be seen marking individual windows.

Under United States tort law, in Fontainebleau Hotel Corp. v. Forty-Five Twenty-Five, Inc. (1959) the Florida Appellate Court stated that the "ancient lights" doctrine has been unanimously repudiated in the United States.

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A SCIENCE WEBSITE FOR FREE POWER. DAN and Denise host their Green Science Show. FRESNEL LENS AND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY IDEAS. Learn about electricity and wind power. DIY Do it yourself ideas

One of the goals aside from providing education on Green Energy is having a show ©GreenPowerScience on the Discovery Network or National Geographic Channel.

Dan is also actively consulting various projects on enhancing heat collection and maximizing solar output for PV, water purification - UV and flocculation. Also generating a concept for inexpensive powerful solar engines.

Both Dan and Denise are former members of the Screen Actors Guild from days past with appearances in Made for TV movies and National Commercials.

Instructables is a web-based documentation platform where passionate people share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others. The seeds of Instructables germinated at the MIT Media Lab as the future founders of Squid Labs built places to share their projects and help others. Read more about the history...

To create a new Instructable, comment on someone else's Instructable, or do lots of other cool things, you need to create a free account. We also have a new guided tour.

Are you sick of posting URLs in emails only to have it break when sent causing the recipient to have to cut and paste it back together? Then you've come to the right place. By entering in a URL in the text field below, we will create a tiny URL that will not break in email postings and never expires.

NABCEP offers certifications and certificate programs to renewable energy professionals throughout North America. NABCEP began that work by creating a certification program for solar electric installers—referred to as the NABCEP™ Solar PV Installer Certification. As of October 2008, 587 individuals have passed NABCEP’s PV Installer Certification exam. There are 85 NABCEP-certified Solar Thermal Installers.

A revolution in transportation is happening. Podcars will run 100% on solar power using only the width of the right-of-way.
Personalized podcars on switchable networks are like the physical internet. Energy efficient, lightweight and fast, you speed on when others pull off, nonstop to your destination.

The Citizenrē REnU program is the first to give you the chance to adopt green energy in your home without having to make a huge investment.

Our REnU program takes care of all the usual headaches and does it with the most attractive terms in the industry.

Welcome to Precycleonline.com
As a member, you will be able to conserve natural resources by trading your labor or items; sell, trade, or donate items you no longer need. Check out what we have to offer. You can select from a variety of free items available under "listings" at the top of our page.
Precycleonline.com is a free community of ecologically-minded people sharing ideas and helping to reduce the waste created on our planet.
Learn more about our mission by becoming a member today.
Contact us at admin@precycleonline.com, if you have any suggestions.

WELCOME TO SOLAR FUN - THE HOME OF SOLAR GIZMOS, SOLAR GADGETS, SOLAR TOYS, SOLAR TORCHES, PUZZLES AND MUCH MORE

ECO FRIENDLY GIFTS, SOLAR GADGETS & SOLAR TOYS
PUZZLES FOR ALL AGES & EDUCATIONAL GIZMOS

"This is the legacy that Lee has entrusted to mankind; let us pick up where he left off. In pursuit of this dream, we welcome all interested architects, builders, financial backers and anyone who is just plain interested. Thank you."

This Earthship is located at 8,000 feet in the Zuni mountains of New Mexico.
November 2003, we finished closets, updated the battery bank and all the wall plugs and switches work. A famous Chinese philosopher once said, "man who finish house, die". I suppose we will never completely finish but this is the construction story about our 900 SQ foot Earthship that is 99.5% complete....

An Earthship is simply a type of house. However it is not like most houses in Ireland today. It is different in that every aspect of the house is designed to be as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible. The Earthship achieves this through passive solar heating, rainwater collection, waste water recycling and a radically different approach to construction.

Our Mission

We are doing our damndest to change the perceptions of legislators, decisionmakers, homeowners, and business-owners alike to get more solar technology on roofs. Our activities include educating our readers about their local subsidies and solar related legislation, as well as connecting them to solar installers in their areas to make their dream of renewable energy a reality. Specifically, we synthesize solar data, maintain an updated state-by-state solar incentive resource (http://www.solarpowerrocks.com/pennsylvania/ ) with validated cost-impact analyses, and we champion solar legislation and technology around the world. We also provide a valuable service to home and business owners by forging relationships with installers around the country so they receive multiple perspectives on the advantages of going solar.

Our environment is in trouble.

So is our economy. We’re here to help.
While some of the brightest minds have created innovative technologies to help us overcome pollution and our reliance on imported non-renewable resources, we face an enormous challenge - implementation. By selling solar energy systems, Dave has learned the primary motivation to purchase a solar system is financial - not environmental. From his graduate studies in industrial psychology, Dan has learned ignoring primary motivators is a serious mistake.
First, we noticed a lack in the accuracy and availability of state-specific rebates and tax credits. Then, we noted many payback calculations provided by various sources were flat out wrong. This left us to reason many of those interested in solar may have given up or were frustrated by the task of seeking out these important facts. In 2007, we created SolarPowerRocks.com to provide the clear, easy to understand information people need to install solar energy across the country.
We have compiled local subsidies, grants, tax credits, and rebates for solar by state, in a very palatable and solar specific format (we found that many solar seekers were frustrated sifting through dozens of subsidies on the web to find the ones that really matter). We also provide easy to understand payback calculations for homeowners in each state based on their electricity usage. It’s working too! We forward handfuls of people a day to our trusted network of installers and we know some of those people go solar.

"Sunergy is a technology that incorporates solar energy with additional heat energy conversion."


The California Clean Tech Open, a competition for start-ups, awarded $100,000 in prizes to six companies this fall...

...Sunergy (formerly Calsunergy) from Santa Clara, Calif., designed a solar system that concentrates the light coming into the cells and simultaneously uses the heat from that light for electricity generation. The CEO, Alec Boyer, is in eighth grade; the rest of the management team is in fifth or sixth grade. The competition has no age limits. Sunergy didn’t make the finals, but still plans to announce their first product in 2008, targeted at providing energy in the developing world.

...this one will accept almost any carbon-based feedstock. If a 175-pound man fell into one end, he would come out the other end as 38 pounds of oil, 7 pounds of gas, and 7 pounds of minerals, as well as 123 pounds of sterilized water...
...The test facility was inaugurated in December 1999...

...Situated within the Philadelphia Naval Yard, the site’s primary function was to test, enhance and streamline the technology in preparation for CWT’s first commercial plant. The site continues its work in research and development today....

located in Albuquerque, NM at the Indian Pueblo Center, is a Native American owned and operated small business with a charter to provide renewable and distributive energy and telecommunications solutions. Its core partners have over 40 years of renewable and distributive energy experience in all facets of the technologies.

These include photovoltaics, both polycrystalline and thin-film, wind turbines, solar hot water systems, solar hot air systems, and other distributive energy systems such as Dish Stirlig.

The solar wall-a product patented and manufactured by Conserval Engineering of Toronto, Ontario- is basically a wall of dark, perforated aluminum paneling attached to a south-facing wall. The panels, heated by the sun, intercept fresh air being drawn into a building's heating system, trapping it just long enough to preheat it. The panels warm outside air that is, say, -10° F in January to something much closer to "room temperature," relieving the demand on the heating system.

The Traditional Approach
An inverter is a power converter that converts direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC). In a solar module installation, the inverter performs two key functions: it performs the DC to AC conversion and it optimizes the modules' Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). Traditional solar energy installations deploy a single centralized inverter to convert the DC output from multiple solar modules into AC power.

The Enphase Approach
The Enphase Micro-inverter system is a fully integrated device that converts the DC output of a single solar module into grid-compliant AC power. This integrated system maximizes energy harvest, increases system reliability, and simplifies design, installation and management.

AEE Solar, founded in 1979 as Alternative Energy Engineering by David Katz, our founder and CEO, began with the goal of bringing renewable, non-polluting power to homes and businesses in our foothills community in the northern California coastal redwood region.

Today we sell exclusively wholesale, shipping reliable, proven products and providing expert technical support to renewable energy resellers, contractors, integrators and installers in North America and around the world.

More and
more homeowners are realizing the benefits of generating
their own electricity, and solar equipment manufacturers are
responding with a larger variety of modules, inverters and
other components.
The 10th edition of the SunWize catalog provides you with
more information and more selections.

This series of Needles is written by Harold R. Hay, Trustee, H.R. & E.J. Hay Charitable Trust, Los Angeles, CA. at the age of 97. Fifty years of dedicated research in solar energy, plus prior successes in government, industry and academia permit a broad evaluation of reasons why solar energy (not renewable energy – a culprit) is not more uniformly accepted.
"I am nearing 97 and a bit limited by it. Most of my winning and losing reforms have been as a loner – it ‘ain’t’ easy. For legal reasons I preface these needles as opinions; to the best of my knowledge they are from a credible source. Your comments will be addressed as referred by a third party – “needlehim-ed.com”. Try it and be patient as I have been with solar advocates for 50 years."
NOTE: http://www.2and50needles.com/docs/Roof%20Pond%20Systems.pdf - Is a link to extensive (over 30 megabytes) .pdf on roof pond systems.

We are currently looking for People to Submit their Home Projects Please Register and login to Add a Project.
Welcome to SolarDIYProjects.com
We have put this project site together to help others with solar Do-It-Yourself Solar Projects.

Welcome to Black Rock Solar
"We're a non-profit with a simple goal: take on climate change, and speed the adoption curve of renewable energy, by building low or no cost solar power in unlikely places. Because if we're going to solve the climate crisis, everyone has to be part of the solution, which is why we're installing renewable energy at schools, hospitals, and other public buildings in places that would otherwise never be able to afford it. Then we let them keep all the money they save, to support their communities how they best see fit. Think that's a good idea? Then learn more about how you can help, and how you can do the same in your area...."

"Thermomax is the world leader solar heating systems and services. Our products have been proven in the marketplace for 25 years, and is the preferred system for many leading solar thermal energy providers....


"If you are looking for an efficient solar heating sytem that can save you a lot of money on your home or commercial heating costs then the Thermomax Solar Energy System is worth a closer look."

After years of careful research, the low-cost, long-lasting, highly efficient Sport Solar Oven is now available. Designed to be weather resistant and energy efficient, the Sport reaches temperatures that produce wonderful, tender, nutrious meals.

July 11, 2008
It may not be as inspiring as Henry V’s exhortation to his troops below the walls of Harfleur, but we do want to let our senators know we expect them to “stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood……” and, in general, make a serious attempt to pass a bill that will extend tax credits for clean energy past the end of this year.

Once more, our senators are about to consider HR6049, the much-abused Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008.

We know that both sides want to pass this bill. They just need to be reminded to work harder on getting it into a shape that enough of them can vote for.

Solar and renewable energy ideas and projects that look promising (or at least interesting).



One of the appealing aspects of the solar thermal area is that "garage inventors" can make meaningful advances. Some of the factors that make it possible to keep coming up with new ideas and innovations in this centuries old field are:

Innovative ways of combining collection, storage, insulation, and distribution of solar energy

New ways to integrate solar features with architectural features

Opportunities provided by new materials

Opportunities provided by increasing prices in conventional energy sources

Opportunities provided by the pollution consequences of conventional fuels

The Earthship is a completely independent globally oriented dwelling unit made from materials that are indigenous to the entire planet. The Earthship has been designed to reduce our impact on the planet and increase our connection to it by utilizing recycled and low embodied energy materials, passive solar heating and cooling, photo voltaic power system, catchwater, solar hot water, gray water and black water treatment systems

Trombe Walls in Low-Energy
Buildings: Practical
Experiences....

The Open Directory Project is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors.

HILLBILLY BIODIESEL, GREASEL AND GREASEOLINE
WATER*INJECTION*OIL*DIESEL*ENGINE*CAR*GAS*HOW-TO*VEGETABLE*COOKING*BIODIESEL*GREASEL*GREASEOLINE*WATER INJECTION*ALTERNATIVE FUELS*IMPROVE MILEAGE*BIOFUEL*HILLBILLY* HILLBILLY HEATING OIL*ALTERNATIVE HEATING OIL*ALTERNATIVE DIESEL FUEL*HILLBILLY TECHNOLOGY*DIY BIODIESEL* BIODIESEL SAFETY TIPS*HOW-TO MAKE BIOFUEL*HILLBILLY FUEL*SAFE BIODIESEL*SVO*WVO*DIESEL ENGINE SAFETY*COKE*ENGINE CARBON REMOVAL

Plans, tools, & information to help you build solar projects that save money & reduce pollution - all Free!

Welcome to the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) - a national membership organization whose mission is to attain a sustainable U.S. energy economy. ASES strives to accelerate the development and use of solar and other renewable energy resources through advocacy, education, research and collaboration among professionals, policy-makers and the public.

Ekose'a is an ancient Greek word meaning "the essence of being". I define that as" family, food and shelter", and thus called my first company "Ekose'a Homes", as I have always had the core of society at heart in my building, and that is the family.

"...This fountain's brushless pump is powered directly by energy received from the sun."

The ideas of "Wiki" may seem strange at first, but dive in and explore its links. "Wiki" is a composition system; it's a discussion medium; it's a repository; it's a mail system; it's a tool for collaboration. Really, we don't know quite what it is, but it's a fun way of communicating asynchronously across the network.