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
Véhicule solaire en open source Véhicule solaire en open source Véhicule solaire en open source Observé hier soir lors d'une émission de télévision à Télé-Québec, Méchant contraste , un véhicle solaire qui est fabriqué à partir de vélos, scooters ou autres morceaux combinés à des panneaux solaires et une moteur-roue électrique. Le tout en open-source. Les "plans" sont disponibles en open-source sur le site internet de SolarVehicles.org et les 2 auteurs, Jeff Dekzty et Will Scully, demandent seulement que les améliorations au projet leurs soient communiqués. Pour un coût de matériau d'environ 1500$, il est possible selon eux de se contruire un tel véhicule. D'ailleurs, je vous recommande une lecture attentive du site afin de bien comprendre la philosophie derrière la conception et la fabrication de leur véhicule solaire à partir des plans.
Residential Renovation of a Schoolhouse -- A Deep Energy Retrofit Search The Renewable Energy site for Do-It-Yourselfers This is the most carefully thought out and carefully executed energy retrofit I have seen. Some of the features of the retrofit include: R40 Larsen Truss walls, triple glazed R6 super windows, glazing revamped for passive solar heating, a new solarium, a hand crafted masonry heater, and much more. Gordon has done a very good job of describing the logic leading up to the key decisions on the insulating, glazing, passive solar, and thermal mass solutions used in the final design. The article provides good detail on the design and execution of this extensive retrofit. We really owe Gordon and Sue a lot of thanks for making all this information available! Download all the details on this fine project:
SUNATO d.o.o. - poduzeće za projektiranje, montažu i održavanje sustava za iskorištenje alternativnih izvora energije, električnih sustava te klimatizacije Let it shine Ireland actually enjoys a very healthy amount of solar radiation, not unlike that of the South of England, so what do you need to know to retrofit a solar thermal system in your home? With passive houses becoming ever more popular and a greatly increased awareness of the value of ‘free’ energy, as well as grants to encourage you to take the plunge, now is the time to decide if it’s worthwhile installing solar thermal in your existing home. Firstly, know that the sums for retrofitting are more complicated than for new builds as it may involve changing cylinders, bringing in scaffolding, and so on, all of which may result in added costs. Indeed, while you could envisage paying in the order of €3,000 or £2,500 for a solar system in a new build, you’re likely to be looking at double that price in a retrofit scenario. That said, you can secure a grant to help you; in ROI you can get €800 through SEAI and in NI £600 through Power NI (formerly NIE Energy). Can it supply enough energy?
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
Chauffage Solaire de Fresnel Lundi, 31 Octobre 2011 01:00 Domotics Connaissez-vous la lentille de Fresnel ? C'est une lentille inventée par Augustin Fresnel pour équiper le système optique des phares de signalisation marine. Sa conception lui permet d'obtenir une courte distance focale pour un large diamètre, sans le poids et le volume nécessaire à une lentille standard. On trouve aussi cette lentille dans les retro-projecteurs, les autobus (pour voir le bas), dans les détecteurs de mouvement à infrarouge, etc. Cette lentille est aussi utilisée dans le domaine du Solaire. Pour chauffer une maison avec de l'énergie renouvelable, il y a des solutions grands publics (chaudière à condensation, géothermie, etc) mais il y a aussi des solutions moins connues comme le puits canadien ou les chauffages Solaire de Fresnel. Je vous ai déjà parlé des puits canadiens dans une actualité précédente. Il s'agit de construire un panneau qui va conduire l'air ou l'eau. Ensuite, il faut réaliser les premiers essais :
The $1000 Solar Water Heating System Search The Renewable Energy site for Do-It-Yourselfers Directory -- for the system overview provided on this page: This page gives an overview of the $1K Solar Water Heating System. Important: This page is just a quick overview of the system, but there are 20+ pages covering the design, construction, testing, cost, and performance of the system in great detail -- see this ROAD MAP for all of the gory details. Objectives for the System The objectives for this project are to design and build a domestic solar water heating system that: Costs less than $1000 using all new high quality parts and materials. This is a fairly formidable set of goals given that commercial systems for cold climates often cost 5 to 8 times the $1000 target. To accomplish the goals, the design uses these somewhat unique features: Two collector designs are covered -- either one can be used -- both are easy to build: The first collector design uses low cost PEX tubing instead of copper to pick up heat from aluminum fins.
OMNIBUS Professional Heating Specialists - Lisburn | Heatflow 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.
BRICOLAGES SOLAIRES (et autres...) - Le monde de Brazihou Four solaire et parabole solaire : Fabriquer une parabole solaire à partir d'une antenne parabolique de récup. Impressionnant. Un cuiseur solaire ultra-simple : Fabriquer un four solaire en carton : Un autre modèle de barbecue solaire bricolé : Construction d'un four solaire Le four solaire à entonnoir L'auteur prétend que ce modèle a le meilleur rapport rendement / sécurité. Il explique aussi comment s'en servir de FRIGO (voire même fabriquer des glaçons) pendant la nuit. Un four solaire à entonnoir gros modèle (1400 W, 200 °C) Four solaire grand luxe. Construire des fours solaires (fiches techniques de nombreux modèles) Site sur les cuiseurs solaires Barbecue solaire de camping transportable : Le cuiseur thermos (ou marmite norvégienne) : On peut tout bêtement utiliser une glacière... Le cuiseur à bois économe : utilisez 10 fois moins de bois pour cuire au feu de bois Explications en photos sur le cuiseur à bois économe (document PDF) Séchoir solaire Séchoir solaire Construction d'un séchoir solaire
Passive Solar Home Design FAQ :: MontanaGreenPower.com Q: What is passive solar design? Passive solar design uses sunshine to heat and light homes and other buildings without mechanical or electrical devices. It is usually part of the design of the building itself, using certain materials and placement of windows or skylights. A successful passive solar building needs to be very well insulated in order to make best use of the sun's energy. In the winter when heating is required, the sun is low in the sky, which allows the heat to penetrate into windows on the south face of a structure. Depending on the climate and the design, as much as 100 percent of a building's heating needs can be provided by the sun. Q: What are the main elements of passive solar home design? A: The following five elements constitute a complete passive solar home design. Aperture (Collector) The large glass (window) area through which sunlight enters the building. Absorber The hard, darkened surface of the storage element. Q: What is direct gain design? Back to Top