Off Grid Solar Living: Lessons in Energy Efficiency This story is meant to provide information about off grid living, meant to teach you or inspire you. I get a lot of people that ask me ‘What’s it like to live off the grid?’ I think a lot of people picture us huddled around a candle in darkened cabin in the middle of the woods. Well for the first couple weeks we moved into our home, that’s exactly what it was like! But we’ll get to that. Off Grid or Off Our Rocker? A few years back, we grew tired of the city and noise and hassle that came with it. But there were other houses in the neighborhood running on solar kits and small wind generators and we naively thought ‘How hard could it be?’. Oh, You Mean We Need Sunshine? We chose to move into our home in the winter that our little hamlet would break the record for snowfall in one year. And worse, our builder had suggested a forced air electric furnace for our modular home to save money. Altitude Adjustment We learned that EVERYTHING needed to be on power strips. via SustainaBlog
Les bottes ou ballots de paille Les enduits : Puis, on enduit. Il faut toujours enduire un mur en paille sur ses deux faces car, sinon, le vent passe au travers, lui faisant perdre son fort pouvoir isolant. L'enduit constitue aussi la protection contre le feu ou les rongeurs. La première couche d'accroche est bien liquide : un lait de chaux ou une barbotine (soupe de terre argileuse) que l'on imprègne partout et qui couvre les brins de paille. Pour l'enduit de chaux, le plus fréquent et le plus adapté aux façades externes, on aura fait la couche d'accroche avec la moitié de chaux aérienne et l'autre moitié de chaux hydraulique pour sa prise rapide, dans une proportion d'un volume de chaux pour trois volumes de sable. Pour l'enduit de terre, on peut employer des enduits prêts à l'emploi, formulés pour un bon résultat, mais il est possible, et très économique, d'utiliser des terres locales. Ces enduits demandent une longue période de séchage, surtout sur un support d'origine végétale.
New Catalyst Lets Us Store the Power of the Sun In Brief Scientists have found a way to “crack” water three times more efficiently using solar- and wind-generated electricity, which means it’s possible to store renewable energy for later use. Rainy Day Energy One of the problems with using renewable energy sources is that you’re overly dependent on the fickle whims of weather. Drawing power from the Sun is fine, but what happens when it’s overcast? Or, if using wind energy, what do you do when the breezes are unusually still? But if one could store excess power generated during especially sunny days, or on very windy days, then one could tap into these sources whenever they are needed—effectively erasing the advantage held by such on-demand energy sources such as nuclear power and other nonrenewable energies. Now, a team of scientists from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the University of Toronto have taken a major step to making this process easier and more efficient. A Metallic Gel
Accueil South African team may have solved solar puzzle even Google couldn't crack | Environment It is a problem that has so far stumped even Google’s brainy engineers – how to generate cheap solar electricity using a small-scale array of mirrors to concentrate the sun’s energy. Now a team at a South African university – led by a former Intel strategic planner – believes they have cracked it. Once they have completed a prototype system in October they have big plans for rolling out the technology. The idea behind the design – so-called Concentrated Solar Power or CSP – is simple. A field of mirrors on the ground tracks the sun and concentrates its rays on to a central point which heats up. There are a handful of large-scale examples of such solar plants around the world generating electricity, and there are predictions that the technology could generate a quarter of the world’s energy by 2050. Paul Gauché is the South African founding director of the Solar Thermal Research Group at Stellenbosch University that is testing a new approach.
GREB - La Baie - Entreprise locale 7th Grader mimics Nature 13 year old copies Nature to Improve Solar Performance Thirteen year old Aidan Dwyer was walking in the woods in Upstate New York in the winter and noticed a spiral pattern to tree branches. Aidan realized the tree branches and leaves had a mathematical spiral pattern that could be shown as a fraction. After some research he also realized the mathematical fractions were the same numbers as the Fibonacci sequence. "On the oak tree, the Fibonacci fraction is 2/5, which means that the spiral takes five branches to spiral two times around the trunk to complete one pattern. Aidan's backyard in Northport, NY. The 7th grader next wondered why nature used such a pattern? Aidan discovered that the Fibonacci pattern helps deciduous trees, in higher latitudes, efficiently track the Sun and collect the most sunlight even in the thickest forest, on the cloudiest days. The American Museum of Natural History has awarded Aidan a Young Naturalist Award for 2011.
Active Solar Heating Active solar heating systems use solar energy to heat a fluid -- either liquid or air -- and then transfer the solar heat directly to the interior space or to a storage system for later use. If the solar system cannot provide adequate space heating, an auxiliary or back-up system provides the additional heat. Liquid systems are more often used when storage is included, and are well suited for radiant heating systems, boilers with hot water radiators, and even absorption heat pumps and coolers. Both liquid and air systems can supplement forced air systems. Liquid-Based Active Solar Heating Solar liquid collectors are most appropriate for central heating. The liquid flows rapidly, so its temperature only increases 10° to 20°F (5.6° to 11°C ) as it moves through the collector. The flow rate depends on the heat transfer fluid. Storing Heat in Liquid Systems Liquid systems store solar heat in tanks of water or in the masonry mass of a radiant slab system. Distributing Heat for Liquid Systems
The Solar Conundrum The Solar Conundrum: heat decreases the production of electrical energy in PV. Hybrid Vacuum Tubes.By efficiently drawing heat away from the solar panel for space heating, hot water, de-salination and cooling the photovoltaic cells are maintained at an optimum operating temperature. This results in significantly higher electrical output than standard photovoltaic panels. This type of device is commonly referred to as PVT. Both energy outputs are optimized replacing the need for two separate conventional panels (PV and Thermal), dramatically reducing installation time and cost whilst maximizing useable installation area. Through its unique patent pending design, V3Solar is able to concentrate up to 150X more sunlight on 1X sun mono PV without the cells overheating. Light is transferred to electricity in nanoseconds. The V3Solar patent pending design also delivers a higher level of efficiency from PV.
Green Home Building: Index Spherical Solar Solar Sphere Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology never looked so good. The Rawlemon Solar Energy Generator was a finalist in the World Technology Network Award Dec, 2013. The inventor, German born, Barcelona-based architect André Broessel, with his first large scale prototype, which sits a top his Barcelona apartment building. Because of the concentration of light, the cell area under the water-filled orb is 75 to 95% smaller than a flat pvc with the same output. The device incorporates a fully rotational weatherproof natural optical tracking device that functions on inclined surfaces and curtain walls, therefore any sun-facing building surface will be suitable for application. From their Indiegogo campaign, which was fully funded. indiegogo.com Facade modules can replace south facing windows. A single LED light conversing with the moon. This micro version can concentrate diffuse light, such as that from a cloudy day.
Comment protéger les bois d’extérieur ? © Antoine Bosse-Platière Bardage, fenêtres, volets, balcon, terrasse… comment éviter que le bois soumis aux intempéries ne vieillisse ou pourrisse prématurément ? Le bois d'extérieur a deux principaux ennemis : les UV (rayons ultraviolets de la lumière solaire) et l'humidité. Les premiers provoquent une sorte de brûlure superficielle - comme sur notre peau - qui se traduit par des petites crevasses et du grisaillement. L'humidité pose des problèmes beaucoup plus sérieux : si l'eau de pluie ne s'écoule pas ou ne s'évapore pas rapidement, si le bois reste au contact du sol ou si l'humidité peut remonter par capillarité, le taux d'humidité du bois va permettre l'installation de champignons lignivores précurseurs de la pourriture et favoriser les attaques d'insectes xylophages. Des essences durables, sans aubier Bois rétifiés et thermohuilés Lame de bardage en peuplier rétifié - © Antoine Bosse-Platière Huiles, lasures et peintures Antoine Bosse-Platière
Nigerian Man Turns A VW Beetle Into A Solar And Wind Powered Car This is one of the coolest ideas and to top it off it’s completely reasonable too! Segun Oyeyiola was a student at Obagemi Awolowo University and while he was in attendance there, he converted his gas thirsty Volkswagen into a completely green energy machine by installing a large solar panel on the top of the car, with an additional wind turbine underneath the hood. His idea is to have his concept of his new invention to become “Nigeria’s future car.” At birth, the battery took 4-5 hours to charge, that was definitely not ideal. Check out this animation of a solar/wind-powered vehicle, illustrating how the batteries are charged via the multiple turbines. The roof houses a mounted solar honeycomb-membrane panel which absorbs and collects the rays of the sun when parked and while it’s on the go, transferring that energy to the main energy housing located in the back of the vehicle. What are some of your thoughts and ideas about the amazing jump in green transportation technology? Minds