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Domain: oksolar.com
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Comments · 18
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Re:It's not about being Eco-Friendly
30 cents a kwh? Wow! Where are you? I don't even pay that and I have some of the most expensive electricity in the USA...
PG&E sells power in four tiers: (0-100%), (101-130%), (131-200%), (201+%). The lowest tier costs about 11 cents per kWh, and the highest tier costs about 31 cent per kWh. The baseline (100%) is carefully selected such that it is barely enough to run a small home with one occupant who is rarely in need of hot water. Per my bill, the baseline today is 11.70 kWh per day. However my refrigerator (which I cannot upgrade, it's built into the furniture) draws 600 watts, on average - and that is a good number, as it seems. I have one electric water heater (4500W.) A whole house (floor) fan draws about 1 kW. Water well pump is about 3 kW. Booster pump is 1 kW. I'm sitting here, all alone, in one room, with three computers running, and the power meter shows 850W into the house (it's dark outside.) That alone would push me above the baseline even if I don't do anything else. Most people have larger families, and they need more power. Pools are also popular. If you have one, you need to run a filter (pump) for about 5-6 hours per day. Air conditioning in summer is required if you have older people in the house. (I usually don't run A/C.) So it is *very typical* that a house ends up in tier 4 - and that is only twice the baseline! This is why solar setups are used here to drop the power consumption into a lower tier.
Here's a question: Let's say that you somehow come into possession of quite a bit of gasoline. Should the local store be required to buy it from you at their posted price?
The store is not required to buy anything. But you should be able to put a can with gas near the pump and sell it for the price that pleases you. In case of electric power, the utility has no ill effects from households who generate power. Transmission infrastructure is linear, so it does not care in what direction the currents flow. Since PV setups are synchronized to the grid, the injected power is seen at the grid as reduction of load. There is no danger to transformers or wires (and there isn't much else.) Meters are designed for bidirectional measurements.
There was an article yesterday about how Hawaii has hit the point where they're refusing additional grid-tie systems because they're getting 'irregularities' due to having so many of them. It's fixable, but that takes money. Should they raise their rates on me so you can make more profit? That's not very free market, now is it?
Haven't seen that one. No, you shouldn't be paying for someone else's profits. The Federal government does that for us already
You are aware of the concept of 'oversell', right? Just because every house has a 100/200A connection doesn't mean that EVERY house can pull that max, or even a substantial fraction of that max, simultaneously without popping something further up in the grid.
A well built grid will allow that. However even the existing grid will benefit. Without PV producers the segment will be overloaded by all the AC units in summer (for example) and "something" will disconnect the power. With PV producers - somewhere, but ideally mixed among consumers - there will be no overload. I cannot call that "bad."
The technical constraints of the grid are currently that not all points are fine with bidirectional power transfer.
The grid is highly linear. It does not care. It is governed by Ohm's law, and its extensions onto a graph. This is a well researched area, and I do not foresee much of technical difficulties even if so
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Re:Dishwashers are a win, not a lossActually, it's the minimum required by departments of public health all over the place to prevent the spread of disease in restaurants and so on. If you don't mind everyone in your family getting sick if one of you does, I guess you don't need to bother.
The point of the heat in a dishwasher is to sterilze with heat rather than, say, chlorine.
However, from the data I've seen, dishwashers use about the same power as an electric iron, coffee maker, or electric hairdryer. So I don't know where you get your ideas about them.
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Re:Understatement
Maybe you should consult the GOOG before you speak of that which you know nothing.....
http://www.oksolar.com/roof/
http://www.google.com/search?q=photovoltaic+shingl es
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There are other promising techniques.
There are other promising techniques of harvesting sunlight, to only give a small sample: this one uses buckyballs and gets 5.2% efficiency, and something sort of similar using pentacene has similar promises, and this one uses the all-famous carbon nanotubes to convert it directly into hydrogen (but for now it only works with UV-light)
If this keeps up, we'll probably have a choice from a whole range of efficiencies, and more importand $/watt.
There already are companies out there that sell solar shingles. They're not economical yet for most applications, but it's starting to come. -
Solar Roof Powers the H2o Pump, Steam Engine
How about recycling the gathered water back to the steam engine with energy collected by solar roof shingles, then you have both heat and light-powered A/C.
This house would be the best of both worlds. -
Solar Roof Powers the H2o Pump, Steam Engine
How about recycling the gathered water back to the steam engine with energy collected by solar roof shingles, then you have both heat and light-powered A/C.
This house would be the best of both worlds. -
OLPC -^v^ to simple for americans
The idea of cranking some power into a laptop has had me following the OLPC project from the start. When out in the forest/mountain where you need power for a device like a laptop & sat-phone the product line gets extreamly narrow.
You need 2 methods to effectivly power your stuff.
Solar being the most obvious sence it powers life on this planet ~~
For solar you need a good inverter & good panels. Flexible panels make it much easier as you can get more panel per square inch to send to the inverter.
Here is a decent setup
The second would be for at night or in low light. Your gas or for lightweight & low sound.. crank, peddal or plain old electronic car lighter hook up. Whatever gets juice into uour batterys!
I heard a few fit hampsters could work nicely as a non-stop power supply.
-Now if your into rugged outdoor equipment & have some time to drool.. check these links.
Itronix
gobook3 Itronix laptop -
Re:If nuclear is so great whats the problem with i
Actually I don't recycle my own poop the local water company does extracting methane initially and then passed over to farmers who spread it over thier fields.
California has a fair bit of coastline perhaps some turbines might be located offshore. maybe geothermal energy is a possibilty too. Biodediesil and sugar producing crops should grow well in california. I don't live in california but i would guess air conditioning is a fair proportion of energy use.
http://www.oksolar.com/solar_home_systems/
might be of interest to you.
Myself I went for the easier option
http://www.npower.com/At_home/Juice-clean_and_gree n.html
My electricity is generated by renewables.
hybrid cars seem to be a combination of expensive and still not that fuel efficient.
cars like the renault megane claim over 60 miles to an imperial gallon (4.454 litres) US gallon is 3.785 litres
runnning a 1.5 litre diesil engine. when your paying around 96p close to $1.75 a litre fuel efficiency becomes important.
As for energy use
http://www.calvert-henderson.com/energy.htm
shows that american energy use per person is twice that for western european nations such as the UK.
however this page shows california to be quite energy efficient for an american state
http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/energy -myths1.html
most uk homes are not very energy efficient however I can tell you that this room is lit by a 15 watt energy saving bulb which equates to the same as a 60 watt bulb. I do have 20 watt bulbs which equate to 100 watt bulbs. They last longer too.
If you could reduce your own energy use then you could save yourself money and get better returns on your states windfarms.
http://www.earthscan.co.uk/news/article/mps/UAN/42 8/v/3/sp/332749698941328167358
reports on many projects including some in california.
I don't know if you have the equivilent of npower juice in california but if you have the choice of supplier choosing one which is prepared to use renewables to generate your electricity will help and you can be part of the solution. -
Solar roof shingles offset vampires
"Energy efficiency experts say the answer lies instead in industry-wide standards, which would require manufacturers to build appliances with low consumption when in standby."
Wouldn't it be nice if the 'Energy experts' spent more time promoting the most obvious source of free power in (and out of) the world; solar power?
Installing just a few solar roof shingles would easily off-set the cost of vampire appliances.
see: http://www.oksolar.com/roof/
Not only do they generate power for your whole household, they end up paying for themselves when you produce a greater current than you are taking in. The energy is sent back to the power line and the energy company pays you. -
High-tech, uncommon, a smart decision =12-volt DC!
12-volt DC ONLY!
You might know that DC is "more efficient" on short range power transmission than AC...
You might also have heard that people having solar panel mostly use low-energy appliances, which happen to run @ 12V DC...
here is what I find when googling "12V DC energy savings"
CET: New Energy Saving Efficient Products & Appliances - [ Traduire cette page ]
consumption; 1.8 cubic feet interior volume;
http://www.cetsolar.com/newprod.htm - 31k - 2 mar 2005 - En cache - Pages similaires
CET: The Largest Alternative Energy Dealer in the Northeast - [ Traduire cette page ]
cord
http://www.cetsolar.com/ - 37k - 2 mar 2005 - En cache - Pages similaires
[ Autres résultats, domaine www.cetsolar.com ]
Our best 12 Volt DC Compact Fluorescent Bulb Uses 80% less energy
12 Volt DC 11 Watt Compact Fluorescent Bulb This is the best in compact fluorescent
DC lighting. The Solsum Energy Saving Lamp has the light output equal to a
http://store.sundancesolar.com/12voldc11wat.html - 23k - En cache - Pages similaires
Ballast 12 Volts and 24 Volts DC Electronic ballast, energy saving
state electronic 12 VDC ballast, for
http://www.oksolar.com/lighting/ballast/ - 39k - En cache - Pages similaires
Light bulbs 12 Volts and 24 Volts DC, Compact Fluorescent Light
equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent bulb.
http://www.oksolar.com/lighting/light_bulbs.htm - 99k - En cache - Pages similaires
[ Autres résultats, domaine www.oksolar.com ]
12 Volt Aquanet Sprinkler Valves - [ Traduire cette page ]
14 Volt DC Pulse Signal
http://www.mrdrip.com/12voltvalves.htm - 94k - En cache - Pages similaires
Energy Efficient Lighting - Diversified Power & Engineering - [ Traduire cette page ]
$19.95. More Details Energy Saving 110 Volt AC US $8.95,
http://divpower.com/sub-category.asp?CatalogVar=0& cID=1 - 44k - En cache - Pages similaires
Low Voltage Lights - 12 or 24v dc - [ Traduire cette page ]
Systems. Boats. -
High-tech, uncommon, a smart decision =12-volt DC!
12-volt DC ONLY!
You might know that DC is "more efficient" on short range power transmission than AC...
You might also have heard that people having solar panel mostly use low-energy appliances, which happen to run @ 12V DC...
here is what I find when googling "12V DC energy savings"
CET: New Energy Saving Efficient Products & Appliances - [ Traduire cette page ]
consumption; 1.8 cubic feet interior volume;
http://www.cetsolar.com/newprod.htm - 31k - 2 mar 2005 - En cache - Pages similaires
CET: The Largest Alternative Energy Dealer in the Northeast - [ Traduire cette page ]
cord
http://www.cetsolar.com/ - 37k - 2 mar 2005 - En cache - Pages similaires
[ Autres résultats, domaine www.cetsolar.com ]
Our best 12 Volt DC Compact Fluorescent Bulb Uses 80% less energy
12 Volt DC 11 Watt Compact Fluorescent Bulb This is the best in compact fluorescent
DC lighting. The Solsum Energy Saving Lamp has the light output equal to a
http://store.sundancesolar.com/12voldc11wat.html - 23k - En cache - Pages similaires
Ballast 12 Volts and 24 Volts DC Electronic ballast, energy saving
state electronic 12 VDC ballast, for
http://www.oksolar.com/lighting/ballast/ - 39k - En cache - Pages similaires
Light bulbs 12 Volts and 24 Volts DC, Compact Fluorescent Light
equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent bulb.
http://www.oksolar.com/lighting/light_bulbs.htm - 99k - En cache - Pages similaires
[ Autres résultats, domaine www.oksolar.com ]
12 Volt Aquanet Sprinkler Valves - [ Traduire cette page ]
14 Volt DC Pulse Signal
http://www.mrdrip.com/12voltvalves.htm - 94k - En cache - Pages similaires
Energy Efficient Lighting - Diversified Power & Engineering - [ Traduire cette page ]
$19.95. More Details Energy Saving 110 Volt AC US $8.95,
http://divpower.com/sub-category.asp?CatalogVar=0& cID=1 - 44k - En cache - Pages similaires
Low Voltage Lights - 12 or 24v dc - [ Traduire cette page ]
Systems. Boats. -
Re:$30 / square meter?http://www.smartroofsolar.com/shingle.html
http://www.oakland.edu/energy/solar.htm
http://www.ips-solar.com/pv/bipv.htm
The uni-solars run about $120 for a 7.2x1 foot (3 sq ft exposed) shingle, which is rated at 17 watts, with about 23-32 Whr / sq ft. Still not at all competitive with asphalt (~$2/sq ft for the cheap shingles), even if you consider that you're saving money elsewhere. However, they are competitive with slate and other exotic materials once you consider the energy savings.
They have a 20 year power warranty (typical for PV and this just means the power output will stay above 80% of the rated for at least 20 years) and a 5 year "system" warranty. I would easily trust them to perform as well as or better than asphalt w.r.t. roofing material, especailly here in Arizona, where asphalt only lasts about 14 years. Keep in mind that these are the currently available shingles. . .
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First? Hardly
These "screw-in" blubs you speak of are typically known as Edison bulbs. Reason should be fairly obvious.
That aside, LED Edison blubs have been out for quite a while. They are rediculously expesive, but I remember researching this as far back as when VOS Pad was posted on
Here are some quick links I found just by going to Google.
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3 -
The state of solar power...
Has come a long way...
"1 solar electric module: UNBREAKABLE EFFICIENT SHADOW PROTECTED AND LOW COST UL and CUL listed, NEW 20 year warranty."
Just imagine if a fraction of Uncle Sam's money that's being spent on hydrogen power research was used as incentives to builders and homeowners to use these shingles. -
What's stopping you?
Check out Bob Vila for a little bit of insight, or even here for a little bit of information on photovoltaic shingles. You can easily patch them into your power grid via a grid interactive controller, or run them off of car batteries
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What's stopping you?
Check out Bob Vila for a little bit of insight, or even here for a little bit of information on photovoltaic shingles. You can easily patch them into your power grid via a grid interactive controller, or run them off of car batteries
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Re:American priorities MORE POWER NOW!
my power bill is $180-200. I keep my house at 72-75F, even when it's 105F outside. IF the power company gets 35% more expensive here then it will be cost effective to generate my own using propane and a generator.
Instead of generating electricity from propane, you could try solar or, likely a better idea, finance some replacement windows for your house/apartment. The energy savings will easily offset the cost over five years, and your first combined electricity bill + window payment will be lower than your former electricity bill.
My power bills in Boston never ran more than $75/month in the summer, and after CA the NorthEast is the most expensive energy market. -
Re:My experience with White LED's
