Renew News

Read part one here if you haven’t already seen it.

I put the new larger motor that I got at American Science and Surplus into my solar fan. Unfortunately even though the guy tested it for me in the store, the juice that my solar panels were giving it just wasn’t enough to spin it as fast as I need. Oh well, it was only 60 cents. So I went back into my very small parts pile and got out another smaller motor from AS&S that is not quite as powerful as I want, but it is better than what I was using, and it will do until I can find the perfect motor. I just wanted to get my solar fan running since we are quickly running out of days hot enough to need it.

Alright, so I got the second-choice motor in there, tested it BEFORE I soldered it in place, things seemed to be good. So I soldered the wires, put the panels into the sun shining in through my window, reached for the on switch, and the sun went behind a cloud. That was 2 hours ago. It has been raining ever since. AAARRG! I only needed 10 more seconds of sun to test the wiring. Ten seconds! Stupid solar.

I’m pretty sure that it’s all set up properly, but I don’t want to assemble everything until I’m sure. Tomorrow may be our last hot, sunny day here in Indiana for the year, and I have a big day of being parked outside planned so I may just have to assemble the thing and see how it goes.

I still need to find a 1-2V 200mA motor with high rpms. If anyone has an angle for me I’d sure appreciate a heads up. Thanks.

I have been working on this project FOREVER! Well… at least it seems that way. I have always been the kind of person who REALLY hates being hot, and for years I have wished there was a better way than just a window shade to keep your car from getting so hot when it is parked out in the sun in the summer. BEHOLD THE SOLAR CAR FAN!

I actually did come up with this idea all by myself, but of course once I started talking about it my friends showed me an infomercial for a solar fan that already existed. For about a second I was disappointed that someone beat me to the punch, but then I remembered that I had already decided that I wasn’t going to pursue a patent on this idea anyway, so what did I care? Besides, mine was going to be better! (more…)

Who WOULDN’T want to have a solar panel attached to their body?

This is so cool! Here’s a little info on the technology, and here’s some info on the products.

Check out this incredible juggling video that features solar panels.

Vova Galchenko and Mark Bakalor’s video

I’ve been seeing more and more solar panels on construction and municipal equippment lately. From solar powered flashing lights in school zones, to solar call boxes and message signs on the highway, renewable energy is popping up all over and making life better by providing power in remote areas.

(more…)

This is pretty old news (in fact, two years old today) but it’s so awesome that I wanted to post it for anyone else who might’ve missed it.

A bunch of engineers at MIT made a solar cell out of spinach. For real. They looked to nature for inspiration, and realized that since plants are so good at using the Sun’s energy, maybe it could be harnessed in a more directly useful way for us. Two years ago when the article was written this technology was a long way from being commercial, and I suspect it still is, but keep your eyes peeled.

BEHOLD the Spinach Solar Cell! The article is from Science News, one of my favorite science magazines.

First it was Bio Town USA in Reynolds IN, and now it’s East Amwell NJ. If I would’ve had to guess, I would’ve thought that the cutting edge of renewable energy technology would be somewhere like Seattle WA, Madison WI, or some other progressive cool place with hippie/environmentalist leanings. Of course I’m not familiar with either Reynolds or East Amwell, but I suspect that neither place is a hotbed of forward thinking environmentalists.

Check out the first solar/hydrogen house in the US… if they ever let the guy actually turn it on.

Thanks to hydroguy for the tip on this story.

There is a lot of exciting stuff going on with solar power these days.  Solar Concentrators are becoming a big deal lately as a way to reduce the amount of silicon used, since there is a worldwide silicon shortage at the moment.  Here are two articles that offer hope on the affordability and long-term practicality of solar collectors.

Cheaper Solar Comes Closer

Solar May Get Cheaper

Businesses are starting to unveil new products, and the business world in general is starting to realize that people want solar power, and that there could be a lot of money in it for them.  Now we just have to prove them right and buy the stuff.

The San Diego Unified School District has just worked out a great deal with Solar Integrated Technologies to get new roofs on many of their schools that are integral solar panels!  So each school not only gets a new roof for free, but they also get to buy the power from that roof for less than what they would pay the power company.  Everybody wins!  I just can’t believe what a great partnership this is.  We all benefit.  Yow!  If this technology could spread to all new roofing projects in the country, just imagine how quickly we could be producing massive amounts of power that don’t rely on fossil fuels and don’t put more carbon into the atmosphere.

Read the full article here:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/louv/20050322-9999-lz1e22louv.html 

I’m sure that it will take a while to get production up to the level I imagine, and of course most builders will have to buy the roofing material, but you have to buy a roof anyway, why not make it one that will produce energy for you?  There is certainly no shortage of available roof space for panels.