I talked with Tim Feury, the owner of ExTech Building Materials, August 5th of this year(2010). I learned a bit about cylindrical shaped solar panels. A few days later, I also, got to talk with David Miller, of Solyndra. the manufacturer of the solar panels. I have to tell you, I felt like a first grader in my first day of school. Well maybe a 2nd grader. I’ve seen several different flat panels on commercial rooftops but not the Solyndra (cylindrical) solar panel.

Briefly, the Solyndra solar panel, because of its unique 360 degree design is able to use direct, diffuse or reflected sunlight. In talking with David Miller, of Solyndra, one of the special challenges they had with the Extech Bldg was high winds. (He had to think a little, since the Solyndra panels are engineered in such a fashion that they are not nearly as affected by wind as flat panels.) Because of the cylindrical design, anchoring the panels down only required ballast weight, not screws to be put in the roof. Tim Feury definitely liked this point. I asked David Miller how the panels performed in inclement weather? He responded, “Snow just falls through” and the panels are able to convert even diffused sunlight into electricity. He went on to state that the cylindrical design of the panels performed what they termed, “sun tracking”, which is basically turning all of the available sunlight into electricity. Direct, diffuse or reflected sunlight from all angles of exposure can be used and is a tremendous benefit of the cylindrical design. Solyndra panel have to be mounted on a flat or “low slope” roof. You can view and see more detail on the Solyndra solar panels at their website at: www.Solyndra.com.

I asked Tim Feury what special challenges in mounting the Solyndra solar panels was involved. His answer: “The roof had to be resurfaced with a white, reflective coating.” He was impressed that the panels could be “secured” to the roof just using ballast(weight), not screws.

The following is the “Press Release” on the Extech solar panel installation:
EXTECH BUILDING MATERIALS INSTALLS LARGEST SOLYNDRA SOLAR ROOF SYSTEM IN NEWARK
Installation of Solyndra™ PV Rooftop System to Offset Over 80% of Building’s Total Annual Energy Load

About Allied Building Products Corp.
Allied Building Products Corp. distributes building products to specialty contractors from over 180 locations throughout the U.S. Allied is a division of Oldcastle, Inc., the North American holding company for CRH plc (NYSE: CRH). Allied’s solar division supplies Solyndra panels, inverters, and other solar products to qualified contractors. For more information, please call 1-(877) 870-7887.

When I asked Tim Feury what his opinion was of the system, he responded – “Very Positive”. If his other locations had buildings with flat tops, he would definitely consider having the Solyndra system installed on them.

I’m currently talking with some Solyndra reps about featuring their cylindrical solar panels for commercial applications, on my site. For the present, I’ll share some information on these Sharp flat solar panels, they are excellent for residential applications, as well as commercial application. Follow this link to the Sharp solar panels – Sharp ND-216U1F 216-Watt Solar Module Panel (poly-crystalline) – LC

I’m looking forward to hearing and seeing more of the Solyndra cylindrical solar panels. There patented (CIGS) technology definitely secures them a high spot in research and development.

In my survey question last week,” Do you think there is any valid scientific evidence to support the notion that “global warming” is man made?, the overwhelming majority of the responses were, no, that global warming is not man made.

Till next week’s post, May God Bless You, Tim

Feel free to leave a comment, question or suggestion for me by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post.

Some of my first projects using solar and wind energy are still around, in the back yard, anyway.  Here are some of the pics of my “turbine grease job” (close up and back a bit) and “the flamingo” for your enjoyment.

Messy but effective

The more I think about it, I’ll shoot the windturbine and flamingo, and get a “fresh” start.  Now maybe, I can have a quiet place to just enjoy nature (in my dreams).  I guess it’s just autumn weather in the air.

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to get down to something a bit more serious, the “Big Question” about climate change.  I read an interesting short but opinionated discussion on it, this week.  In the discussion on LinkedIn, Joel Stone appeared to support the premise that scientific expertise is lacking among “doubters” of climate change (caused by man), as stated in an article, complete with “data” compiled by Stanford.  See the actual discussion at: http://www.linkedin.com/newsArticle”  After looking at the comments by Peter Brown and Jeffrey K. Lange, I felt they were more in line with my view.  In my view, man-made climate change is all a bunch of  ”hooey”, lacking any scientific evidence.  What is your view? Click here to take survey

Be sure to read the blog article next Tuesday. I talked with an exceptional gentleman about the largest installment of Solyndra solar panels on the roof of one of his businesses. It was a unique opportunity for him, a time of possibilities that he took. Until then, May God Bless and Watch Over You, Tim

Please feel free to leave any comments, questions or suggestions by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post.

In talking with Frank a short while back, he and his wife are very comfortable in their home and still enjoy exceptionally low utility bills. He also, took another motorcycle trip out west this year(2010). I’ll see if it will be OK with Frank to post that at some future date.

Several other posts were “close in the running” with a substantial amount of visits. The “solar sub-division” of Bill Balls was extremely popular. Click on this link to view it – Solar Subdivision 1 and Solar Subdivision 2 or the follow up on it this year(2010) at Solar Subdivision.

All of the “Traveling …” interviews were well accepted. Not the least of which was my trip to Greensburg, KS to attend their ground breaking for their wind farm. The following links will take you to each of the different posts for Greensburg.: Greensburg, KS Story ; 13 Traveling … Greensburg, KS Wind Farm; 14 Traveling … Greensburg (Greentown), KS; and 15 Traveling … Last Morning in Greensburg, KS. I plan doing an update on what they have achieved to date and some of the more recent achievements in Greensburg, before years end.

Several of the other 2009 posts were very popular, I’ll list them at some future date.

Next week(August 31), I have an interview of a man, who lives on the east coast(U.S.) with a plan for the future. (I’m sorry, this post is scheduled for August 31, not next week.)

Wishing you all the best until then. God Bless you, Tim

Feel free to click on the “comments” link right after this article and tell me any suggestions, comments or questions you have.

Listing all of the scientific advances achieved in alternative energy would be a daunting task, even listing the last 10 years of discoveries or advancements would cover a seemingly endless area. Invariably, some achievements would not even be listed because of the vast number and the huge amount of material to be covered.

There are so many different areas in which discoveries have happened. Some of the areas are: “smart grid”, solar cells, fuel cells, wind turbines, devices to harvest kinetic energy, solar energy producing highways, micro-hydro, hydroelectric, wave and tide energy, bio-fuels, hydrogen, nuclear energy and more.

We’ve also had many scientific breakthroughs concerning energy efficiency. Not the least of which are compact fluorescent lights(CFLs) and more effective “eco-friendly” insulation and building materials.

One of my favorite magazines, “Popular Science”, had one of its feature articles on “The Largest Ever Solar Powered Boat” in this months issue(August 2010), highlighting alternative energy.

One of the many areas of scientific advancement is batteries. Like most other areas, batteries can be broken down into sub-categories, then “sub, sub” categories and so on. Batteries can be broken down into Primary-disposable and Secondary-rechargeable. The breakdown can be along the lines of their different cell types – wet cell, dry cell, gel cell or molten salt. Their different chemical makeup is a way to break down differences – alkaline, zinc, zinc-air and lithium, which are considered dry cell. Wet cell chemistry includes nickel/cadmium, lead-acid, nickel metal hydride, nickel/zinc and lithium ion. The advances in this technology alone, keep moving forward. This by no means is a complete list of battery categories, sub-categories and sub-sub categories, it’s just to illustrate the wide array of data. That’s just one category of alternative energy, batteries.

Our major source of energy is still fossil based fuels but our steady advancement in the areas of policy and science may change that. Alternative/Renewable energy may one day become our main source(s) of producing energy.

Wishing you the best this week and God Bless. Tim

Please leave any comment, questions or suggestions by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post.

Government rebate programs, incentives, subsidies and energy bills seek to strengthen our development and use of alternatives/renewables. Some of these “programs” have met with success, some have not.

In an article by Charles Steele of the Daily Caller, he states that “congress does indeed need to determine an energy solution for our country. At present though, they are in a mad cap rush to pass an energy bill before their August recess.” We don’t need this kind of abandon recklessness. Charles goes on to state there are several bills currently under consideration. Many of them could cause a rise in the current cost of energy, both alternative and traditional fossil fuel. I can ill afford to spend more on my energy bills, can you?

In yet another article by Nicolas Lorie of “The Foundary” Obamas “Green Jobs…” appear to be one of the government “boondoggles” or at the very least, a promise broken. The cost to “we taxpayers” is greater than the benefit. There are several other good points in Nicolas’s article, it would be a well worth while read. Just click on “The Foundary” link above to view his article.

If there are so many “downsides” to government involvement, what are some of the upsides?

As an upside, I believe #1 – It is doubtful that we would be as far along in research and development, use, legislation and regulation without government incentive. #2 – Alternative/Renewable energy can (and does) provide for some of our energy demands, but at what cost? #3 – Alternative/renewable energies are more environmentally friendly. Compared to using fossil fuel, there is a substantial decrease in CO2 emmisions.

As you can easily see, there are always “2 sides to the coin”. We are becoming ever more informed and educated. Hopefully we can make intelligent decisions regarding our development and use of alternative/renewable energy, even more, that our elected officials will make more informed, intelligent decisions about the legislation that can determine the direction we take.

This post is only a very small portion of what’s going on in the alternative/renewable energy arena. I’d like to expand on this in the future but …..

Next week, I’ll take a look at some of the scientific advancements coming about because of the increased interest and awareness about alternative/renewable energy.

I will also post some more of my favorite book’s links in the next 2 days. In the mean time, feel free to visit my Recommended Books page or Fun Links, Our Friends Links, Helpful Links page. Hope to hear from you soon. God Bless You Tim

For any questions, suggestions or comments that you may have, click on the “comments” link immediately following this post and let me know what’s on your mind.

First off, we have to decide what “alternative energy” is. For years, coal was an “alternative energy” to whale blubber, oil an alternative to coal. Natural gas, nuclear energy, bio-fuels, solar, wind, geo-thermal, tidal, micro-hydro, hydro-power and many other methods of producing energy are considered “alternative”. For the purposes of this article, “renewable energy” or “non-fossil fuels” seems the more appropriate fit.

Idealistically looking at our situation, we want and unlimited supply of energy that has zero negative side effects. This may be an unrealistic, unachievable goal, remember, I said “idealistically”, but as the number of people on this planet grow, the demand and competition for our current resources keep increasing. As logic dictates, sooner or later, our demand will exceed our supply. We must find some answers.

Our many advances in the “renewable” energy arena have been in areas of policy, laws, regulations, scientific breakthroughs, innovative use of current equipment and materials, environmental awareness and a whole myriad of other advancements. Though they have all come a long way, we are no where near reaching that “idealistic” goal. We may never reach it but as long as we’re striving for the growth, we are at least moving in a forward direction. As the old saying goes, “Aim for the stars, you just might hit the moon”. In other words, “hitting the moon” may be a very worthwhile goal.

The overreaching statement that “alternative energy” is in a growth mode is at the heart of this debate. It seems to grow in “spurts”. Over the next few post, I will explore some of the government “advances” or “obstacles”, some of the scientific innovations, some results of each and think about where we might be going.

I have been fortunate to have read some books that have given me several areas to ponder and help grow my own opinions. Check out my “recommended books” page. Next week I hope to have more links to some of my favorite books, I’m in the process of getting the links. May God’s Blessing be upon you and yours.

Feel free to leave me a comment by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post.

I’m typing this in the refuge of my bedroom, that I temporarily put a portable 110 volt a/c unit in. I’m old enough to remember when we didn’t have a/c but I don’t remember much, except using some old stand up fans.I’d be grateful for a good breeze, now.

I’ve heard from some of the folks I met at the Windpower Expo in Dallas. Travelia Gianmario from Italy was at the Expo with Nick Wood, representing Asia, for the Blu Wind Eolic Towers. They have an innovative, modular tower system for wind turbines. Their towers range in height from 20 meters to 50 meters. For more technical information and applications of their towers, visit their website at: http://www.blu-wind.it.

Another couple of individuals I heard from this week are from Redstone College in Colorado. Nicole Whiteley and TJ Simon were telling me about the wind turbine training program at their college. Nicole offered to write a guest post for this blog. I’m sure she can tell us about their programs in more detail. I’ve put a link for them on “our friends links” page or just Click Here.

I was also able to visit a wind farm in West Texas. I’ll tell you about it in the near future. Until then, May God Bless You. Tim

Please click on the “comments” link immediately following this post to make any comments, suggestions or ask any question you might have about my site.

Although silicon is the industry standard semiconductor in the majority of electrical devices, including the photovoltaic cells that pv panels use to transform sunshine into electricity, it is hardly the most efficient material on the market. For example, the semiconductor gallium arsenide and similar ingredient semiconductors give practically double the effectiveness as silicon in solar products, but they are rarely used in utility-scale applications because of their excessive construction value.

University of Illinois (http://illinois.edu/) professors J. Rogers and X. Li discovered lower-cost methods to manufacture thin films of gallium arsenide that also granted versatility in the kinds of units they might be integrated into.

If you could reduce considerably the expense of gallium arsenide and other compound semiconductors, then you could increase their range of applications.

Usually, gallium arsenide is placed in a individual thin layer on a little wafer. Either the wanted device is produced directly on the wafer, or the semiconductor-coated wafer is break up into chips of the preferred size. The Illinois group chose to put in several layers of the material on a single wafer, making a layered, “pancake” stack of gallium arsenide thin films.

If you grow ten layers in a single growth, you only have to load the wafer one time. If you do this in 10 growths, loading and unloading with heat range ramp-up and ramp-down take a lot of time. If you consider what is needed for every growth – the equipment, the preparation, the time, the workers – the overhead saving this solution offers is a substantial price reduction.

Next the experts individually peel off the layers and shift them. To complete this, the stacks swap layers of aluminum arsenide with the gallium arsenide. Bathing the stacks in a solution of acid and an oxidizing agent dissolves the layers of aluminum arsenide, freeing the single small sheets of gallium arsenide. A soft stamp-like device selects up the levels, just one at a time from the top down, for shift to another substrate – glass, plastic material or silicon, depending on the application. Next the wafer may be reused for one more growth.

By doing this it’s possible to generate much more material a lot more rapidly and a lot more cost effectively. This process could generate mass amounts of material, as compared to just the thin single-layer way in which it is typically grown.

Freeing the material from the wafer also opens the opportunity of flexible, thin-film electronics made with gallium arsenide or other high-speed semiconductors. To make devices that can conform but still retain higher performance, which is significant.

In a document shared on-line May 20 in the magazine Nature (http://www.nature.com/), the team explains its procedures and shows 3 kinds of devices utilizing gallium arsenide chips manufactured in multilayer stacks: light devices, high-speed transistors and photo voltaic cells. The creators additionally offer a detailed price evaluation.

Another advantage associated with the multilayer technique is the release from area constraints, particularly essential for solar cells. As the layers are taken out from the stack, they can be laid out side-by-side on another substrate to produce a significantly larger surface area, whereas the standard single-layer method confines area to the dimension of the wafer.

For solar panels, you want big area coverage to get as much sunshine as possible. In an extreme case we could develop sufficient levels to have 10 times the area of the conventional.

Next, the group programs to explore more potential unit applications and other semiconductor resources that could adapt to multilayer growth.

About the Source – Shannon Combs contributes articles for the residential solar panels blog, her personal hobby website based on recommendations to assist home owners to conserve energy with sun power.

Photos:
http://www.residentialsolarpanels.org/
http://www.residentialsolarpanels.org/solar_arsenium.jpg

Complete Bio Photo of the Author
http://www.residentialsolarpanels.org/about
http://www.residentialsolarpanels.org/files/photos/shannon.jpg

Don’t forget to listen to “yours truly, Tim” interviewed by Diane Tegarden on her BTR(Blog Talk Radio) show. The show will air July 13 at 10am PST, 11am MST, 12 noon CST and 1pm EST. You can access it on your computer at Diane’s BTR Alternative Energy Show or call toll free at 1 877 221-6957. For the link to spiral air foil, Click Here

If I don’t hear from you before next week, I’ll “see” you then. God Bless You Tim

Feel free to leave any comments by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post.

THE CLEAN ENERGY COLLECTIVE BREAKS GROUND ON FIRST COMMUNITY-OWNED SOLAR GARDEN
IN THE NATION

Senator Gail Schwartz and others laud new era of accessible and affordable clean energy.

CARBONDALE, COLO (June 25, 2010) Senator Gail Schwartz, Holy Cross Energy CEO Del Worley, Basalt Mayor Leroy Duroux, key representatives from the Mid-Valley Metro District, and community organizations CORE and CLEER were on hand to cheer the groundbreaking for the Mid-Valley Community Solar Array in El Jebel, CO, the Clean Energy Collective’s first community-owned solar array and the first of its kind in the nation.

The first of several sites in the works for CEC, it commemorates the CEC’s long road to creating the country’s first model that allows a community to collectively own a clean energy facility—solar, wind, biomass, micro hydro—and directly reap the benefits.

“Colorado is leading the nation when it comes to attracting industry, attracting innovation, and attracting technology. This is one of the most important parts of it,” said Senator Gail Schwartz. “We actually have mechanisms now to make renewable energy affordable to all households.”

Holy Cross Energy CEO Del Worley was enthusiastic about the potential for locally-generated renewable energy. “It’s great to get local renewable energy off the ground, and this is one more arrow in our quiver for Holy Cross to meet its 20% goal of renewable energy by 2015,” he said.

Holy Cross’s residential and commercial customers are eligible to place reservations in the 80 kW Mid-Valley solar array for $3.15/watt. Holy Cross will then credit members’ utility bills directly each month at $.11/kWh based on how much solar each member owns in the array.

“We are extremely thankful to our partner Holy Cross Energy for continuing to execute on its commitment to clean energies and collaborating with us on this innovative initiative,” said CEC founder Paul Spencer. Spencer
also announced that Carbondale-based Sunsense Solar Electric will manage the construction of the array.

MEDIA CONTACTS
Tim Braun, b2,inc.
(970) 618-0080; tbraun@b2inc.net

Next week I have another special guest post by Shannon Combs from Oakland, CA. Shannon is involved with alternative energy and has her website devoted to it. Click Here to view her site

In another exciting note, I’ve been invited to be interviewed by Diane Tegarden on her Blog Talk Radio (BTR) Show July 13 (next Tuesday). You can call in for the free show at 1 877 221-6957. Go to her shows website for times and other good info. BTR Show with Diane Tegarden

May God Bless You. Hope to see you next week. Tim

ps. Send me your url and I’ll place a free link on “my friends” links page. You can send it by the “comments” link or my e-mail at: timsjs@yahoo.com.

There are two broad classifications of wind turbines: 1) Horizontal Axis (HAWT), and 2) Vertical Axis (VAWT). I’ll start with a brief rundown of the Horizontal Axis wind turbines and wind up with a short discussion of the Vertical Axis wind turbines.

Horizontal Axis wind turbines dominate the market and have been described as a “propeller on a stick” They are called “horizontal” because their rotating axis is parallel to the ground.

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines

On the whole, Horizontal Axis wind turbines are more efficient and effective in relatively high, steady winds. One reason why they’re more efficient, the full length of the blades catch the full face of the wind during their entire rotation. Some of the disadvantages are: 1) they require a greater amount of steady wind to be efficient, which requires higher mounting to achieve the necessary altitude; 2) most of the operating components are mounted on top of the tower, making servicing them a more complicated task; 3) they require an additional “yaw” mechanism to keep the blades facing into the wind; 4) HAWTs require expensive equipment, like cranes and heavy duty dozers to build them, along with the personnel to operate the equipment and 5) specialized transportation is required for the blades.

On the other side of the coin are the Vertical Axis wind turbines (VAWTs). Their main rotor shaft is situated vertically, with respect to the ground.

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

The two main types of VAWTs are: 1) Savonius – drag based like an anemometer and 2) Darrieus – named after the French inventor, Georges Darrieus. They are predominently lift based (aerodynamic design with the blades exceeding the speed of the wind).

VAWTs have several advantages which include: 1) the wind can come from any direction; 2) lower startup wind speeds reqired for electrical production; 3) less noise; 4) works better with gusting winds, wind changing directions and speed; 5) usually easier to service because closer proximity to the ground and 6) they can usually be built where taller structures are prohibited.

The disadvantages include: 1) not as efficient use of the wind (blades do not have constant head on wind); 2) some designs place blades directly on top of the generator, making maintenance a real chore and 3) they are subject to “surface drag”.

An excellent book I’ve been reading on wind turbines that cuts through a lot of hype is “The Ultimate Consumer Guide to Wind Power I was a little disappointed that their book only deals with HAWTs but their research, actual lessons and applications are honest and can be used for any type of wind turbine.

In conclusion, I would surmise that HAWTs would be a superior choice for large wattage output,  commercial applications and some residential while the VAWTs would be a better choice for most residential applications. This is my personal opinion. There are new and improved designs being developed all the time, I could change my opinion next week, though that would be unlikely.

Thank you for your visit to my site. Feel free to leave me any questions, comments and/or suggestions by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post  May God Bless You and  may you enjoy a favorable  wind. Tim