Solar and Wind advances

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:45 pm

If you want mega solar plants â€” visualize ROOFTOPS.

Not just factories, houses and skyscrapers, but skyscraper windows, car, train and truck roofs, and they'd be easy to retrofit. The wafer is the size of a credit card and as thin as a coat of paint.

Probably the only flat surface you couldn't put it is the roadways, but imagine energy autonomy. Every piece of moving and architectural infrastructure retrofitted to produce its own, stand-alone electricity.

Another article I found on Digg.com states another company has created high-efficiency LEDs that trump even CF bulbs for output and miserliness (aside from being a little more aesthetic). There's even talk about the U.S. phasing out incandescent light bulbs starting in 2009.

On a sweep through town last night, I noticed that LED light bulbs were steadily replacing the old incandescent Christmas lights. A check at Fred Meyers and Costco showed that they're getting easier to afford, 100-light strings costing around $10 - $20. So if you have a string of ceramic C4s or C7s, tuck it in your "memories" box or donate it to a museum because in five years, they're gonna be nowhere in sight.

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:31 pm

On the market!!!
http://media.cleantech.com/2214/nanosol ... lar-panels

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 4:14 pm

So when do we get to buy them?

cowboyangel · Post by **cowboyangel** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 6:44 pm

solar wind advances...now not to be disrespectful or anything, but isn't that when the sun farts?

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 8:16 pm

Shirley you jest,,,, disrespectful on the E-playa.

We need as much disrespect as we can fling. Actually, I believe that a sun fart is referred to as a "coronal mass ejection". This sounds more like a hyper-velocity turd, but I think that it's the closest thing you're going to get.

JIC, you're interested, Siemans says that their solar panels convert solar flux into electricity. They don't say light. This may sound like a semantic point of little import, but there is a lot of flux wandering the cosmos. The reason that this becomes important is because John Bedini has come out with a charge controller for solar panels.
The so-called Solar Kick is reported to charge even with moonlight. http://r-charge.com/RC_Solar_Kick.htm
I know, I know,,,, but it is interesting. I want one,,,or maybe 2. I already bought the rennaisance charger. It's an interesting little dude. Dan

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 6:20 pm

Scale up; http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/07 ... magnet.php

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:27 pm

Here's an idea that looks pretty good
Recently, GOV declared a 2 year moratorium on building solar plants. Fortunately everyone screamed very loudly so GOV did an about-face. Dan

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:32 pm

??? What is "GOV" in this context?

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 9:18 am

Ms Crypto, the enviornmental protection people said that no more solar plants could be built until they did a complete assesment of the enviornmental impact.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02137.html
Keep me honest!!

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:02 am

Who is "everyone" in this context?

Marscrumbs · Post by **Marscrumbs** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:40 am

Back to orginal intent of thread. I got a 12Vwind turbine I like to bring to the playa. it's rated at `450W. I plan on sticking it on a 21'ft pole and use it to keep my DC charged for lights and a ebikes, etc. supplimented by a few solar panels. I've never set this one up before all the way. I can carry the pole on my truck's lumberack which is high enough up that I should be able the lever it up fromon top of it. So is the plan.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:58 am

20 feet would be way "over kill"

That is 2 1/2 storys..

The whip factor go up as you go up

10 to 12 foot will do just fine,

make sure you have brake system in place, for high wind..

Playa winds exceed 45 mph dayly and can hit 70 on a good day

watch for other geek post/threads on this type subject.

Tiahaar has a wind charger on top of his bus.. He would be happy to help anyone on the subject..

Rabbi Dali Rick · Post by **Rabbi Dali Rick** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:58 am

Which brand do you have. Oh yeah, how loud is it? will your neighbors complain? It's not like a genny that you can just run anytime you want, whenever the wind is blowing it's on. I own one and it's 40' away and it is loud when it's running.

I would think of a hybrid system, something with a small solar panel in the mix. Because the Black Rock Desert is similar to the Mohave where I am, you can bet that sometimes the wind may not blow, sometime for days. Then other days it will blow continously without letting up. It's crap shoot which you get and when.

the rebbi

ZaphodBurner · Post by **ZaphodBurner** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:34 pm

Leno's got that little wind turbine powering the building that houses his car collection (go figure) that looks pretty cool and is really low profile. I can't remember the name of the company--Pacificsomething--but, I'm thinking about building my own and putting it on my unusable chimney.

Marscrumbs · Post by **Marscrumbs** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 4:50 pm

I was asked about how loud. It's supose to be a quieter model by ARI. Then isn't the wind loud when it's howling? I had thought about moving it out away from camp as an art installation. 21ft was close to minimum recomended height recommended Watch out for those curious hands

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:13 pm

Marscrumbs wrote:I was asked about how loud. It's supose to be a quieter model by ARI. Then isn't the wind loud when it's howling? I had thought about moving it out away from camp as an art installation. 21ft was close to minimum recomended height recommended Watch out for those curious hands

You sound about half baked on you ability to install one those things.. It's not a fucking toy..
The playa and Black Rock "tent" City realy dose not need that danger..

Again,, The winds on the playa can knock your shit down in a heart beat.. There is nothing in the camp area more than 15 ft high..

Get some one to do your math on guy wires, anglel and tie down post..

Let me know where you will be.. So I can be far away.

Marscrumbs · Post by **Marscrumbs** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:32 pm

unjonharley wrote:
Marscrumbs wrote:I was asked about how loud. It's supose to be a quieter model by ARI. Then isn't the wind loud when it's howling? I had thought about moving it out away from camp as an art installation. 21ft was close to minimum recomended height recommended Watch out for those curious hands
You sound about half baked on you ability to install one those things.. It's not a fucking toy..
The playa and Black Rock "tent" City realy dose not need that danger..

Again,, The winds on the playa can knock your shit down in a heart beat.. There is nothing in the camp area more than 15 ft high..

Get some one to do your math on guy wires, anglel and tie down post..

Let me know where you will be.. So I can be far away.

We've put up stuff taller than that yearly.

Yes I know a wind turbine resistance is the size of the disk of the blade rotations. I will overly guy wire this using manufacture's guidelines and give this wide berth to other playa occupants.

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:20 pm

Ya want something tall. Look at this sucker; http://www.metaefficient.com/news/new-r ... watts.html
On another thread there is a post about the new plan from T.Boone Pickens. He wants to use wind in Texas. This is coming from a guy who has been a life-long oil man. He recently bought a big aquifer in Texas.
He says that we can't dig or drill our way out of our problems.
He also says that water is a better bet than oil.
There is a good site for green investing; http://www.greenstockinvesting.com/ And Dollar collapse has started a new section on clean tech; http://dollarcollapse.com/
Our financial sector is going up in flames. People are starting to see that investment in renewable stuff makes better financial sense.
Buffet says that $516 trillion is going to go up in smoke. This has caused a big investment in renewable stuff because most investors have given up on profit from investments and are now concentrating on protection and preservation of assets.
With oil prices all over the map, no investor can compute their return on investment. With electricity prices on a steady rise, ROI is easy to figure.
The more money in renewable technology, the lower the price,,, unless Gore can figure out how to charge for sunshine

Post by **mdmf007** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 1:39 am

Wind is such a great resource, We need to exploit it on a much larger scale.

I also just read an article about McCains promise to institute a 300MILLION award for battery technology that meets the specifications outlined in the contest.

We need more challenges aimed at the private sector, I am not sure about 300 mil on a single test, but what the hell. Its only paper.

Marscrumbs · Post by **Marscrumbs** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:30 am

can't sit still wrote:On the market!!!
http://media.cleantech.com/2214/nanosol ... lar-panels

capjbadger wrote:So when do we get to buy them?

I got some CIGS flexible panels from a company ICP that stop production years ago, but you can still find these panels if you look around. Brunton also made this style solar. Cost around $10 a Watt or more. These are not as cheap per watt as silicon cells today, but alot more convienient.

They come in 40W,20W10W and 5W. (peak sun ~16V i.e. made to charge 12V.)They are light weight, have grommets and roll up. They plug into those autoboost battery packs off the shelf. There isn't a cost advantage per watt for larger panels, just you need more of them.

I got a deal from a seller in Tuscon who only has 5Watt panels left, but you can string them in series. (w/ shipping for two 5W=10W about $80.) You can post me a message if you want her email.

I have been using these at BM to run most anything. Fans, lights, radios, cameras, etc. Just can't wait till CIGS become available for our roof tiles, etc.

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 9:13 am

Ugly Dougly wrote:Who is "everyone" in this context?

This is a sad, sad commentary. Everyone includes the lobbyists from the solar power interests. GOV responds immediately to lobbyists but not to it's constituents. We the people pay the salaries for congress. Their salaries are guaranteed.
They whore themselves out for the bucks from business.
As long as our society accentuates "shallowness" we'll never see any politicians or condidates with character or morals.
As Dustin Hoffman said in "Hook" ,, "kill them,,, kill them all"

SistaWeotch · Post by **SistaWeotch** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 2:30 am

Hey, all!

On a related topic, though with a slightly different focus, I'm wondering if anyone knows what the best means for recharging a laptop battery is. I and a few other intrepid explorers are going to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in January 2009.

As most of us are semi-tech oriented, we are of course wanting to take cameras and laptops and various other gadgets with us. We'll be on the mountain for 7 days, however, so we need a way to recharge our toys. I'm thinking of getting an Asus EEE laptop to take with. Here are the specs on the battery:

Does anyone have recommendations for ways to charge one of these with solar power? Any handy, lightweight adaptors that could be, oh, strapped to the outside of a backpack, for instance? Or maybe something that could charge both that and some AA batteries, too?

Thanks in advance for any info!

Cheers,
SW ;)

ps: feel free to contact me directly: sistaweotch [...at...] g mail. Dot com, natch.

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:40 pm

These look pretty cool,,, if the link works; http://video.google.com/googleplayer.sw ... 4264&hl=en

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:29 am

Photovoltaic paint; http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?wo= ... LAY=STATUS

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 5:23 pm

"t is reported that, in three years, buildings covered in steel sheets could be generating large amounts of solar electricity, thanks to a new photovoltaic paint that is being developed in a commercial partnership between UK university researchers and the steel industry."

Here's the link for the lazy wags who can't find their google toolbar.
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2008/10 ... eport.html

dragonfly Jafe · Post by **dragonfly Jafe** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 6:49 pm

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technol ... ?series=37

goathead · Post by **goathead** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 3:07 am

This is a small company our of Reno/Tahoe.
Looks real interesting. Grabbed this off their site..

30% Tax Credit for Small Wind Passes!
On Friday, October 3rd the small wind tax credit was signed into US law. This long-awaited incentive puts small wind systems on a similar playing field to other renewable energy options. For customers, this means a 30% tax credit, up to $4000 per property, off the installed cost of a small wind system. The tax credit makes the already affordable Windspire that much more economical!

http://www.mariahpower.com/

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:34 pm

Full spectrum solar material; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 132836.htm

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:29 am

The price of oil is dropping just when solar and wind are taking off. Unfortunately, this could have a disastrous effect on projects that are already in the pipeline; http://www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2008/Update77.htm
If green power costs too much more than oil power, investors will dump the green. On the other hand, our creditors are demanding loan repayment. The first thing that they will demand is that we raise the price of gas to global norms,, $11 bucks a gallon. So, even if oil is cheap, there will be lots of incentive for domestic green power to power electric vehicles. Oh so very interesting, Dan

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:37 pm

This is a pretty cool development. A propane heater that uses waste heat to power a small IR PV panel to produce electricity along with the heat. The sucky part is that the Chinese developed it rather than the iol republic of Cheney. IR PV has lots of potential.
http://www.jxcrystals.com/ThermoPV.htm

Solar and Wind advances

Personal Wind and Solar

..... Blowin In The Wind ....

Wind tower in the playa Loud vs green

Re: Wind tower in the playa Loud vs green

Read the back of your ticket, again

Copper Gallium Indium Selenium thin film voltaics

Solar powered battery rechargers?