Apr
13

Adding A Garden Fountain

on April 13th, 2010

If you are an enthusiastic gardener you may already be considering if you have any free space in which to install a decorative garden fountain. Luckily you won’t need tons of room or access to lots of plumbing or wiring in order to enjoy the appealing sounds of water gently tinkling and splashing.

Today, it is quite simple to find a large assortment of styles that range from a larger garden pond fountain to a small container fountain powered electrically, or via a small solar panel. The reasons for adding a fountain will vary, but it is important to remember that moving water brings many “beneficials” into a garden. Insect devouring birds love to splash around in even a shallow puddle of water, and lots of parasite and pest eating insects are attracted to the available water too.

To begin deciding upon the right decorative garden fountain for your yard it is necessary to assess the entire setting. For instance, you will need to consider if you should create a full-blown water feature that contains a garden pond fountain, or if you will opt to purchase and install something like a birdbath fountain or even a freestanding structure that circulates the same water repeatedly.

For example, there are wall-mounted fountains made from glass, stone, and even metal that can reside outdoors on a year round basis in warmer climates and which require only careful mounting, access to a single grounded electrical outlet, and a consistent supply of clean or properly prepared water. There are also far less formal fountains that can be housed in a large container or planter and which can be powered by a small solar panel properly installed in a sunny location.

This is usually one of the major deterrents to the installation of a garden fountain altogether – a lack of access to electricity. This is where the modern solar technologies will really come to the rescue because many of them can easily generate adequate supplies for a small pump that can serve as the basis for a pond or decorative fountain.

Before purchasing any type of fountain equipment, however, it is important to ensure that it will be safe to power it from the available outlets installed in the home. For example, it is not a good idea to run several extension cords through a garden area, and it is best to pay for a professional electrician to run safely grounded supplies instead.

Wolf Miller -
About the Author:

BuildYourOwnPond.biz provides you with everything you’ve ever needed to know about building your own garden pond. The Garden Pond Guide offers tips and information on a garden pond fountain, pond covers, construction and more.

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Jan
21

Dollars Allotted to Solar Panel Inefficiency

on January 21st, 2010

For solar energy entrepreneurs out there looking for a funding boost, the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, is now offering a whopping $117.6 million under the auspices of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to solar inventors or startups who have developed cutting-edge solar technologies. Admittedly, $17 million is available only to DOE national laboratories like the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Argonne National Laboratory, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to name a few, but that still leaves the lion’s share of the package open to solar startups looking to advance technological solutions in photovoltaic (PV) energy applications.

Making your own solar and wind power for less than $200

This $107.6 million is being allotted in packages: $51.5 million for advanced PV technologies like solar cells and modules; $25.6 million for concentrating solar power (CSP) research and development; and $40.5 million to fix the non-technical aspects of solar energy delivery like:

• A lack of information about solar technologies
• Poor consumer awareness
• Inadequate or conflicting product standards
• Insufficient and aging interconnections
• Net metering
• Diverse and conflicting utility rate structures and practices for solar systems
• Conflicting and deficient codes
• Complex, incomprehensible and expensive permitting processes
• Inconsistent and incommensurate state and local financial incentives
• Unequal, sketchy and deficient financing opportunities
• Untrained, inexperienced installers, salesmen and service personnel, and limited opportunities for obtaining appropriate education

President Barack Obama, speaking at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada – the site of the nation’s largest solar array with more than 72,000 panels mounted on single-axis trackers on 140 acres delivering 30 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year, or enough to power 13,200 homes – noted that the Nellis solar farm took about a half a year to complete, created 200 jobs and will save both the U.S. Air Force and the American people who fund it nearly $1 million a year.

According to the President, the solar farm will also prevent 24,000 tons of pollution by not using fossil fuels, and serves as a “shining example” of what America can accomplish by harnessing clean renewable energy to build a firmer foundation for economic growth.

And it is, but the $107.6 million in funding is needed to address some lingering issues in solar energy, namely solar cell efficiency, thin-film degradation, and tracking system mechanical failures, to name but a few.

Making your own solar and wind power for less than $200

Case in point: tracking systems, which can improve solar efficiency by as much as 40 percent, are still prohibitively expensive for most small-solar users. Their increasing complexity, from single axis to azimuth and even dual axis models, increases not only the cost and complexity of the technology, but the inherent tendency of machinery to fail.

Thin-film PV tends to degrade at high temperatures. In fact, a recent study demonstrates that the majority of thin-film degradation occurs within the first 100 hours after fabrication. This, in essence, defeats the fact that thin-film solar is less expensive to manufacture and thus cheaper to install.

Solar cell efficiency is another drawback to increasing solar installation. Though some entities like the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany are reporting conversion efficiencies of more than 41 percent on a triple-junction cell, few solar cell manufacturers (beyond Sanyo) are reporting efficiencies greater than 23 percent. That’s a lot of wasted sunlight, and a lot of expense for a solar capture of less than one quarter.

If you’re an entrepreneur, or merely a tinkerer with some expertise, visit the DOE’s website at Fed Connect, or see the DOE’s NREL solicitation page and apply for funding. Take your idea or invention to the next level. As politicians have been noting for several decades, the greatest threat to American security may be a reliance on foreign oil, and solar energy is one of the cleanest and most promising ways out of that dilemma.

Making your own solar and wind power for less than $200

Best Residential Solar Energy Systems and other Related Resources:

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GreenDIYEnergy is a guide on how to start generating your own green energy at home. Developed by Ultimate Results, LLC, GreenDIYEnergy’s page promises to give users a step-by-step video and manual on building and installing their own personal solar panels. GreenDIYEnergy’s site also gives users a snek peek at the video that shows them how to buld and install their own solar panels.

Homemade Energy is fast becoming the buzz word in environmental circles. Consumers are becoming fed up with the problems associated with using conventional energy resources. Tired of rising costs, changing our lifestyle and in some cases being subjected to rationing, many home owners are turning to the newest trend in energy conservation DIY Solar Power Kits. A number of companies are now producing homemade energy guides, available for instant download on the internet, which give you step by step instructions on how to assemble the materials for your own DIY solar power kits.

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Apr
2

Home Solar Panel Politics

on April 2nd, 2009

After recently reading a New York Times article, we started thinking about home solar panel politics.  You see, although solar power is gaining popularity as a renewable energy solution for home, it will never become mainstream without the backing from the federal government.

A poll by the Nuclear Power Industry revealed that the number one choice for generating power was not from nuclear, coal or natural gas, but from solar energy. However, at the time the poll was taken solar only provided for about 0.01 percent of America’s power supply. Solar power is popular, but there’s not enough investment!

In Washington, where the energy policies are signed, solar power lobbyists generally work with small budgets in the tens of thousands of dollars. Now when you compare it to the tens of millions of dollars that nuclear, coal, gas and oil lobbyists have available, you can only guess which energy policies gain approval by our beloved politicians.

But when you look at countries like Germany and Japan, their government policies have increased solar power implementation beyond what was thought possible. With the support from government not only have the manufacturing costs decreased because of economies of scale, but solar technologies have also rapidly advanced.

We know government regulation is not very popular in America, where many of us believe our capitalists markets should be left alone.  But according to Vinod Khosla, a partner at one of the world’s biggest venture capitalist firms – VC Firm and major investor in green technologies:

“…Market-driven improvements are not happening fast enough to put solar technology beyond much more than a boutique investment”.

We agree with Mr Khosla. Until the American solar industry gets backing from the federal government, our solar power costs and technology will always lag behind the rest of the world. And as long as that happens, solar power will never gain mass-market appeal in the US.

However, with the new change of government there are 3 distinct factors taking place that give us assurance that home panel solar power is about to take off in America.

1 – The new president-elect Obama and his administration is putting big coal and oil aside, and giving green technologies higher priority. Furthermore, their new laws will help limit the power and influence wealthy lobbyists have on new energy policies.

2 – Some states, such as California and Hawaii are not waiting for Washington to pass the new energy policies. Instead they are taking initiative. Governor Schwarzenegger’s “Million Roof” campaign will not only create a new industry, but also lower global warming and create thousands of jobs.

3 – And lastly, we, the home panel solar power users have the biggest role to play. All the energy policies and campaigns would be useless if the population did not embrace solar power at home. But, from the poll and what was said by Mr Khosla, that is not a problem. The America people are not only very interested in solar power, but are also supporting it with investment.

And although it can take years to pay off the solar power cost, people still invest. And when cost is a concern some are so interested in getting involved that they learn to make and install their own home solar panel power. So, let us continue moving towards solar and supporting the politicians and corporations who promote green technologies.

Tim McDonald and his wife have been living off the grid since June 2008. He recommends you Try Earth4Energy For FREE before you go out and start any home solar power project.

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Mar
2

Enjoying A Green Energy Home

on March 2nd, 2009

With all the improvements in green energy technology, it is now simpler than ever to begin adapting your house into a green energy home.  A green energy home makes use of renewable sources to supply hot water, power, heating and security.

There are a variety of methods to making your house a green energy home.  The first is solar power.  In your green energy home you could put in a solar heating system to heat and store water for use, and put in photovoltaic solar panels to convert the sun’s rays into power. If you bought and had these systems put in by a specialist they could be rather expensive. However, there are numerous resources and guides on the market to produce your own solar panel and hot water systems that are much more affordable.

If your house is still being built, a good way to turn it into a solar power house is to employ passive solar technology during construction. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, this means making use of the south-facing sides of your house for heating and cooling.  By putting in many light-efficient windows and heat regulating bricks on the south-facing side, these passive solar techniques help make your house into a green energy home.

Another method is making use of a windmill on your property.  Windmills are driven by the wind to generate power and even pump water from an outside source.  Wind turbines can be fixed on your rooftop or in your yard to produce clean electric power.  Like solar panels, domestic windmills can be bought and installed commercially, but that costs a lot of money. So, in recent times a wide selection of affordable sets have been made put on the market for people to make their own wind turbines and install their own green energy home plans.

Another way to add effectiveness to your green energy home is to utilize a nearby stream and produce hydro-electric power.  This is a fantastic pollution-free alternative that requires low maintenance and works as long as the stream is running.

The ultimate green energy home combines all of these renewable energy sources.  By utilizing the power of the wind, water and sun to produce electricity you would enjoy not only massive savings and potential profits from your power consumption, but also largely reduces your carbon footprint. By combining solar heating systems and passive solar architecture into your green energy home, your need for power from traditional sources (fossil fuels) would cut down considerably and you would be living the renewable energy dream.

What’s nice is a green energy home does not require any more maintenance than conventional houses. Solar technologies need little maintenance and wind and water generators need only occasional oiling for optimal capability  There is no better time than now to start your green energy home project and live a cleaner life off the grid.

Tim McDonald and his wife have been living off the grid since June 2008. If you want to have your own green energy home and save thousands on your electricity bills, then be sure to Try Earth4Energy For FREE, before you go out and start any renewable energy project.

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