Solarious - stumbling away from the grid

Diy Solar Air Heater from Soda Cans

Here’s another project done right.  Again, this one comes from the resourceful mind of a car enthusiast who spent too much time in a cold garage.  I guess when you’re already in the garage, it’s easier to put construction projects into action!   Using only materials had around the house, he built something that warmed the air, and learned a lot in the process, too, from the people who commented on his experiment.  Read the full story above.

Nice. No, really, everything about this concept is nice, from the idea, to the execution and the website. So nice that you’d better go check out the website for yourself, so I’m only going to provide one chart here as a teaser.

This house does it all. Collects water, uses high-capacity solar, makes its own compost, and looks amazing while doing it through your laptop. And you can construct one in under a weekend. How’s that for simple? It’s certainly inspiring.

It’s only March, but the sun is already beating hot and heavy on us here in SoCal. But here’s an easy project for you to try in the colder regions of the world: a solar heater that converts the visible light spectrum to usable heat using pennies! Yep, pennies. So I hardly need to tell you that this solar heater doesn’t cost too much to construct. It’s yet another good idea from the folks behind greenupdater.com, a site that shows you DIY projects that can enhance your life using alternative energy. Visit their site for the full instructions, but here’s the equipment list so you can collect before jumping in head-first:

2x 20″ x 30″ Foam Board - at your local hardware or craft store.

About 300 pennies (Ross uses 304) - Start looking in the couch.

Flat Black Paint - Benjiaman Moore Eco-Spec paint which is a low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) latex paint. Many hardware stores will sell you small sample jars.

24″ x 36″ Plexiglass - At your local hardware store.

Spray Adhesive

Hot Glue Gun

Packing Tape

Utility Knife

And here’s a picture of the completed unit:

Happy Easter everyone!

Oh, how I love Freecycle. It might be the best site on earth for getting people to reuse the things sitting in their garage gathering “don’t need it, but can’t toss it” dust. I’ve been able to find a lot of the materials necessary for solar projects just by asking. Maybe that has something to do with living in Sunny CA, the mecca of earth-friendly solar enthusiasts, but I’m pretty sure with a little ingenuity, you can get started on your solar projects with little more than a bit of gas money. Just remember to return the love when someone asks for that one-of-a-kind thingamajig you have rotting in the basement.

Stuck in a rut trying to motivate yourself toward a greener life? Here’s an animation that you should see. Greenpeace - The Journey of Trash . Just click on the link above to view it.

If you want to help the world out in some tangible way TODAY, just take a look in your trash can. See a lot of plastic? Remember that these days, recycling companies are able to take many more types of plastics than even a few years ago. According to one site I visited recently, there is enough dissolved plastic in our oceans to place a saran wrap thickness of it over the surface of every ocean on earth. And most of that is in little tiny bits, which sea animals easily mistake for plankton and other small prey. If, as recent studies have shown, you absorb plastic chemicals into your body when drinking from plastic containers (see this USA Today article for starters), then imagine what eating a fish who’s spent his life dining on plastics might do. Scary thought. Every piece of trash that you recycle is one less that can find its way out to sea. As it stands now, there are areas of the ocean so think with floating trash that shipping boats can’t even pass through them, so they route their ships around them, using more fuel.

When I first heard about the “North Pacific Gyre” as the largest water landfill on earth is called, it seemed impossible. Why not just load it up on ships and haul it back to port for proper(ish) burial? But the problem is, we put so much INTO the ocean every year, even with dredging, we’d hardly be able to keep up. So do yourself, and the planet, a favor today. Make a commitment to put ONE LESS PIECE of non-biodegradable trash into your trash can, whether you find another use for it, you buy a product with less packaging, or you take another look at what might be recyclable in your can. One. How hard is that? Do that every day for a month (okay baby steppers, start with a week), imagine how happy the fish (and the people in Alaska, Russia and Japan!) will be. That’s reason enough for me!

http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/inverter.asp

I decided to start my experiment by figuring out how to convert the power my solar panel will one day generate into usable power for my daily activities. First stop: the DIY version at the web link above. Um, yeah. Way over my head (and it seems it’s over everyone else’s on that site too. It’s their most popular “help” topic!) Makes spending $75 for the version from the store seem all that much more attractive. I think I’d blow up at least that much in equipment trying to get this to work. For all of you electro-philes out there though, this is a nice site with descriptions of tons of gadgets I could never hope to successfully build.

When I picked up my solar panel, which the guy gave me with the caveat that it wasn’t working due to a voltage drop, he suggested that maybe I could slice apart the panels and charge smaller batteries instead. Since my goal is still to use them as a whole, so that I can deal in 12V current and not have to create a voltage understanding nightmare (this statement alone may proclaim me an electronics newbie, I have no idea), I decided to give the panel a good looksie and see what there is to work with. The panel is composed of about 18 individual panels, set up in a series circuit. Here’s a little diagram:

They output to a little box on the back with two wires. One for each battery terminal, I have to assume. The clear vinyl(?) covering on the panels has started to peel back, and the aluminum frame is disassembled from where the former owner tried to attack the voltage drop problem. Around the edges is a strip of what looks like aluminum foil, keeping all the layers together. So, first thing I did was get rid of it. Sure hope that’s not part of what makes it work! Next to go will be the clear covering, once I find a suitable replacement, because it’s dirty and peeling. Any suggestions on a good material?

I did receive an auspicious sign this morning, one that let me know going solar is definitely in my future: As I was walking down the street, thinking about what the best use for that panel would be, someone had put a roll of solder wire on top of their trash can for the taking. In city-slicker Los Angeles. Oh, joy! If you think dumpster diving is wrong, well, you and I probably won’t have much in common. I take my blessings where they come, and finding free and recycled parts for my experiments is definitely always a big one. So, the rest of today will likely be spent digging through my toolbox to find my old soldering iron. Looks like this solar panel’s gonna get a make-over after all! See you soon~

Welcome to day one of a grand experiment. As a greenie-at-heart, but not always in practice, I’ve been gliding through life claiming to be more ecologically friendly than I must really be. Heck, I’m not even sure what the best steps to take will be! So, in a spirit of jump on in the deep end, I acquired my first solar panel this morning. I feel greener already, even though it’s just sitting in a dark corner at my house. It’s old and needs some love before it’s going to work, but I’m determined to make it replace something in my life that uses grid power. The guy who graciously freecycled his old panel said that it would charge a 12 volt battery (a car battery). Okay! Now I need a battery, a converter, and a clue about how to hook this stuff all up! Looks like I’ll need make a few smart friends along the way.

Rather than tell you this blog will be this or that, and fail miserably, I’m going to let it just grow like one of those mystery seeds you pick up off the floor. If I succeed at learning anything, maybe you’ll learn something too! If not, well, I’ll try at least not to make things boring. Thanks for stopping by.