Solarious - stumbling away from the grid

Read the article on building a solar-powered PC here

A solar powered PC?  It sounds too good to be true!  Well, I had to know more, so I went to Tom’s Hardware and checked out the article above.  It’s very professionally written and researched, and the grand experiment seems to be a huge success.  Of course, at $5,000 for the solar panels needed to power this PC and specially selected hardware that reduced average wattage, it’s hardly your average box, or the everyperson’s pricetag.  But every great idea gets its start somewhere, and I’m rooting for this one to go all the way. 

Based in Germany, the experimenters started by deciding what the capabilities of their dream system would be, and then clearly defined a goal as to its power availability.  They wanted a full-featured PC that could run 24/7 off-grid, in case you want to do a little midnight computing.  Any techies out there know this is a must, not a luxury, when chasing the elusive vapors of creativity.  This first step underscores an important point in any undertaking: defining the goal in concrete terms and deciding what you can and cannot live without will go a LONG way to determining the eventual likelihood of successful completion.  May you plan your exercises with the same careful attention to detail. 

The article then outlines the steps taken to achieve the stated goals.  First, they acquire the necessary equipment and consider the practicalities of their chosen configuration.  Then they set about building the PC so it will require a minimum of operating wattage, and then move on to the solar array that will power it.  Last, but certainly most important, comes the testing phase, when they see whether they have been able to construct a suitable prototype to fit the brief. 

It’s certainly not a beginner’s or even intermediate project, but it’s an excellent read, and I recommend you visit the site to read the whole (pretty long) article.  Happy Earth Day, everyone~ take a moment today to do something special for yourself and the world around you.

I just finished reading Power of the People: America’s New Energy Choices (2007), a nice short read about the history of, current usage of, and the future possibilities for energy consumption in the United States. At 188 pocket-sized pages, the book doesn’t take more than an afternoon to thumb through. This is thanks to the concise way in which Carol Sue Tombari explains things. She writes as though you’re sitting down together to share a nice salad lunch, not stuffy, not too complicated. But in the mix, she throws in a surprising amount of information about the current energy landscape. You see, Ms. Tombari knows what she’s talking about, after years working for both private and governmental authorities on the topic of energy. So when she talks about the ways in which power utilities fell victim to disincentives for innovation when they “reregulated” in the 1990s, you can bet she saw it happen from the front lines.

The book is divided into two main sections of two chapters each. First, you find out why all this is important anyway. What IS the energy crisis? Then on to Energy 101, a brief discussion of the current power generating technologies and what is already possible in terms of augmenting power load both at the personal and utility level. I learned a lot about how the utilities work (and why this model is outdated). The next main section focuses on the future. What will we have to do to survive the looming power shortage? In the first chapter, she outlines the different players in the energy system, and then discusses how each is challenged by setbacks, and suggests how that challenge will have to be overcome. The last chapter outlines the future and its many possibilities.

I really liked the format of the sections, in which each technology is presented in “the good”, “the bad”, and “the balance” sections. This allows you to get a clear overview of the limitations and promises without delving too deep into science. If you are looking to implement alternative energy solutions in your life but don’t know which one fits for you, I’d recommend this book heartily. If you already have a clear idea of what’s going on, you’ll still find a nicely written essay with interesting photocopy-friendly facts to quote.

The best audience for this book, however, are those who are looking for a way to change energy consumption on a societal level. Buried within the outlines of various technologies is an underlying cry - “Innovate!”, challenging readers to help find the solutions alternative energy implementation barriers. Only a few logistic issues separate most alternative technologies from gaining wide-spread acceptance. What is the power of the future? Could you be the mind to crack the riddle?

Read More about NanoSolar’s breakthrough here

PopSci’s Best of What’s New 2007

NanoSolar has long been a favorite of mine for their commitment to producing inexpensive solar cells with more durable materials than traditional solar cells.  They have funding from some of the biggest names in the business world, which probably explains why they haven’t had to go public yet.  When they do, I’m going to be standing in line (probably a long one!) to get stock.  Their PowerSheet technology, printed in a process similar to running a newspaper press, recently snagged Best of 2007 honors in Popular Science’s annual contest (see a nice Flash demonstration of the technology at the link above).

The most exciting news is that the NanoSolar process has been officially declared cheaper then coal.  That means there’s no excuse not to own some of these panels once they come off the production line in 2008.  The first commercially produced line of panels were auctioned off, sent to the Smithsonian, used in power plant settings, and other socialy important applications.  But NanoSolar for the masses appears to be just around the corner.  Keep an eye on this!

Researchers at Technion - Israel Institute of Technology claim they have created a conceptual power plant that could meet all of the globe’s energy needs… fifteen times over! It’s called the Energy Tower, and it uses the weight of cooled air to power generating turbines at the bottom of a tall tower. The air is cooled by water pumped to the top of the tower and released amidst air warmed by the sun. This reaction causes the newly cooled air to fall down the tunnel, allowing for the collection of power. Technically solar, certainly hybrid, and zero-pollution, if the concept translates into a working prototype it will be a major breakthrough, as it will be capable of producing power at less than present costs. It may also possibly operate to desalinate water, which is a generally expensive process as a byproduct of the power generating sequence.

Read more about the Energy Tower here.

Look like the future of solar?  Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory think so.  This sheet of plastic is covered with millions of nano-scale collectors that reach potential efficiencies of up to 80%!  That blows current solar technologies out of the water.  And it’s cheaper to make these cells, too.   They use common ingredients and can be printed on flexible plastics, like bags.  Now, you ready for the good news?  (yeah, it get’s better)  These nano-antennae are tuned into infrared energy, which is radiated down on us all day by the sun and re-radiated back from the Earth at night.  Which translates to the fact that these solar collectors don’t need their beauty sleep like regular solar cells.  They pull overtime, day in and day out.  Only problem?  They haven’t figured out how to convert the energy into something useful by humans… yet.  Well, when you get that covered, guys, put me on the customer list!

Here’s a little cutie that packs a mean punch. The microjoule gets over 9,000 miles a gallon! Yes, that’s nine thousand. Or more than three trips across America. With one of these, you could actually afford today’s gas prices!

Here’s their site:Microjoule
And an English-Language review: FrogSmoke

Mmmm! My first home-cooked solar meal.

The other day, being Easter, seemed like a perfect day to set up the cooker for a test run. As I mentioned previously, when I set up the unit the first time, the window-shade was so flexible that it had trouble standing up, much less resisting wind. So, as you can see, the oven now sports a cardboard shell which I attached with vel-cro and safety pins for ease of disassembly. It’s not as pristine as the older version, but it DOES work.

Initially, I placed my oven thermometer in the oven bag without a pot, and put everything in the sun at 11:50 am to see what would happen (right picture above). Twenty minutes later, the temperature showed 175° F! Wow! Another 15 minutes, and the temperature was… 150°? Hmmm, I did remember reading that it was the black pot, not the cooking bag, that created heat. Next, I went to the store to buy a round black baking pan to use as a top for my pot (or, in this case, the bottom), and by 2pm, everything was ready to actually COOK something.

Since the satisfaction of success seemed critical, I chose to stick with an oldie-but-goodie food staple, grilled cheese sandwiches. At 2:10 pm, I stacked two sandwiches in the pot and put them out. The temperature still registered at 150°, placed in front of the oven bag. By the time I came out to check on everything 15 minutes later, they were done! Pop them off onto a plate, and a quick wipe of the non-stick surface, and preparation and clean-up were finished. Now that’s my kind of cooking.

After the success of Easter, which convinced even my skeptical friend that this COULD work, I set out to cook something a little more ambitious. Today’s menu: carrots. I’m reading a book on solar food drying right now (you’ll be seeing a review here very soon), which listed carrots on the “great for drying” list. Well, the processes for cooking and dehydrating are a little different, but I had some carrots that needed immediate love, so I figured I’d just see how things went if I dumped chopped carrots into a pan and put them out sans water.

Result? Mixed. This time, I put everything out at about 12:30 pm, and left it there for about 45 minutes to an hour. The pot tipped off its stand once somewhere along the way, and I set everything up in a new location, which didn’t seem to get as much light, even though there were no shadows obstructing anything. So I compensated by keeping a better eye on the oven and rotating it a little over time. It didn’t seem like the pans were quite as hot to touch when I took them off the “burner”. When I opened up the bag, the smell was WONDERFUL. A big billow of warm steam that smelled like veggie soup. That alone let me declare the experiment a success. The food itself? Not very cooked (the carrots were still crunchy, though they were softer), but overall, good flavor. If I’d had longer to wait around the house today, I think they’d have softened up just fine. Next time, I’ll add a little water, too.

So, there you have it. Not a total success, but enough so to keep me very motivated toward refining this whole solar thing. And it’s seriously gratifying for an afternoon’s work of setting everything up. Even if you’re a glutton for success, you CAN bring solar into your life today!

Here’s an amazing, “why didn’t someone think of it before” idea. Of course, it’s from the ever smart and innovative students of MIT. (Side plug, if you’re ever looking for some great reading, check out MIT’s Technology Review, available online or in stores. It’s loaded with cutting-edge and interesting ideas for the future)Basically, this idea takes the power of human gravity and converts it to usable energy.

Yep. It’s that simple. What I want to see is a super-charged home version of the system, so you can actually power your home as you run around after your dog (or kids), for instance. Visit their site for more info.

clipped from crowd-farming.com

How can we find alternative energy from simple human movement? Well, the idea for this alternative energy source came from a pair of MIT students Tad Juscyzk and James Graham. The duo announced their ideas at the Holcim Forum 2007 awards ceremony where they won top honors.

The project seeks to convert the energy of human movement in places where it is abundant and dense, like in urban settings, to energy suitable for consumer use. Juscyzk and Graham’s crowd farm was based in Boston’s South Station terminal. The floor of this popular railway destination would contain a responsive sub-flooring system made up of blocks. These nodes would depress slightly when stepped upon and would be in station’s main lobby. The friction of the blocks as people walked would generate power through a dynamo, or a device converting energy of motion to this new form of alternative energy.

Solar power paint

“The paint will be based on dye-sensitised solar cells. Instead of absorbing sunlight using silicon like conventional solar panels, they use dye molecules attached to particles of the titanium dioxide pigment used in paints.

That gives an energy boost to electrons, which hop from the dye into a layer of electrolyte. This then transfers the extra energy into a collecting circuit, before the electrons cycle back to the dye.

While less efficient than conventional cells, dye-based cells do not require expensive silicon, and can be applied as a liquid paste.”

This is not the first time I’ve heard this announced, but it promises to be such a big idea that I applaud anyone who’s making progress toward a solution.  Nanosolar, mentioned in the article, indeed does have a method of printing their cells directly onto metal surfaces, which also promises to revolutionize the manufacturing industry.  It’s only a matter of time.  Which, unfortunately, we have less of these days.  But with big investors like Google behind such solar startups, at least we know that someone’s on it.

Consider these facts, taken from the Renewables 2007 Global Status Report:

• Renewable electricity generation capacity reached an estimated 240 gigawatts (GW) worldwide in 2007, an increase of 50 percent over 2004. Renewables represent 5 percent of global power capacity and 3.4 percent of global power generation. (Figures exclude large hydropower, which itself was 15 percent of global power generation.)

• Renewable energy generated as much electric power worldwide in 2006 as one-quarter of the world’s nuclear power plants, not counting large hydropower. (And more than nuclear counting large hydropower.)

• The largest component of renewables generation capacity is wind power, which grew by 28 percent worldwide in 2007 to reach an estimated 95 GW. Annual capacity additions increased even more: 40 percent higher in 2007 compared to 2006.

• The fastest growing energy technology in the world is grid-connected solar photovoltaics (PV), with 50 percent annual increases in cumulative installed capacity in both 2006 and 2007, to an estimated 7.7 GW. This translates into 1.5 million homes with rooftop solar PV feeding into the grid worldwide.

• Rooftop solar heat collectors provide hot water to nearly 50 million households worldwide, and space heating to a growing number of homes. Existing solar hot water/heating capacity increased by 19 percent in 2006 to reach 105 gigawatts-thermal (GWth) globally.

Alternative Energy is (very) ready for its time in the spotlight.  With the quick adoption rates that these numbers reflect, one can only wonder how long it will be until 50 or even 75% of our power could be renewable.