Archive for July, 2008
A Grand Plan For Alternative Energy
Posted by admin in The Pickens Plan on July 28th, 2008
Right now, the United States (only 4% of the population of the world) uses 25% of all the oil produced in the world. Today we spend $700 billion a year to import foreign oil.
Solar energy is one of the great “clean” alternative energy sources available today, and because of the scarcity of oil, it will be growing and evolving even faster on a residential level and an industrial level. But America has an even greater potential for a clean energy resource.
It can be found in the great plains of the United States in states like Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas. No, they haven’t found new oil deposits, or coal or shale. This resource has been around since recorded history. It’s indirectly connected to solar power and it is 100% renewable. If you guessed wind power, you’re right.
A Stanford University study in 2005 stated that “there is enough wind power worldwide to satisfy global demand 7 times over — even if only 20% of wind power could be captured.”
These are staggering findings and can really put things in perspective in terms of the obvious opportunity staring us in the face.
Enter The Unlikely Hero
With every opportunity, timing is critical. And most entrepreneurs understand timing. And the man with his finger on the pulse for this incredible opportunity is oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens.
Hailing from the small Oklahoma town of Holdenville, T. Boone Pickens is a classic story of success from humble beginnings. He graduated college as a Geologist, and by the mid 1950’s already broke out on his own as an independent geologist and founded Mesa Petroleum, a company that still stands today as a symbol of innovation and ingenuity in the energy sector and the business world. What T. Boone Pickens proposes to build and accomplish is nothing short of a complete win-win situation and the beginning of an energy movement and paradigm shift that is long overdue.
The Plan
The plan is a two-pronged approach that consists of taking advantage of the “wind” corridor that runs from the Texas panhandle all the way up to North Dakota. Mr. Pickens’ Mesa Power Company is already building the largest wind power facility in the world in Pampa, Texas. It would yield the equivalent combined power of 2 large coal-fire plants; about 4,000 megawatts. Such developments would also lead to other positive results in terms of job creation for these rural areas. It would cost about $1.2 trillion in the next 10 years to set up the network of wind power complexes proposed. These would in turn provide for 20% of all of the energy needs in the US. The price tag is only a one time cost.
The second part of the strategy involves redirecting the production of clean-running natural gas from electric power plants to an alternative auto fuel. Today, natural gas is responsible for about 22% of the electricity generated in the USA. Only 1% of America’s natural gas is being used for transportation. Natural gas vehicles or NGV’s run much cleaner than regular gas or diesel cars, and the price for a gallon of natural gas is $1.
The USA today spends $700 billion a year buying foreign oil for our cars. The Pickens Plan’s main objective is to reduce our dependence of foreign oil by a third.
Check out the Pickens Plan right now.
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Implement Solar Heating Energy And Watch Your Bills Shrink
Posted by admin in Solar Heating Energy on July 24th, 2008
Courtesy of solaralberta.ca
It’s evident that today, most of the world’s electric power is used for heating or cooling. If you were capable of cutting your electricity bill by a third or even more, wouldn’t you jump at the chance to save yourself a big chunk of money per month? You might actually be surprised that through solar heating energy one can not only heat a home, but cool it as well. You see the movement of air is actually caused by the heating and cooling of air masses. You can use this same method to cause a breeze to flow through your own home, as well as to supply all of your other heating needs throughout the year.
More Than Electricity
Passive solar energy is the implementation of certain design characteristics of a home to maximize the heating potential of the sun’s rays upon the home. Building factors such as the roof, walls, orientation, and windows are designed in such a way as to balance and control the solar heating energy. There is minimum use of mechanical devices such as pumps or fans. Solar heating designs gather and store thermal energy from direct sunlight. Passive cooling minimizes the effects of solar radiation through shading or through the generation of air flow by using convection ventilation.
Heat Your Water
Aside from using passive solar heating energy for heating your home, the same solar heating energy can be used for all of your water heating needs. Solar heating panels are used for this task. These panels are different form photovoltaic panels in that they do not convert the sun’s rays into electricity. Solar heating panels consist of a standard panel array with special tubes where water is pumped through and then heated by the sun at the same time. There are many different designs and systems for water heating.
Solar heating energy or passive solar is even more effective when combined with photovoltaic solar energy panels. You can have all of your energy needs met from a single, reliable, and free source. It’s now the most cost effective method of supplying all of your energy demands. And with the combination of passive solar generating heat and the PV cells generating electricity, you’ll be able to cool and heat your home as well as use computers, appliances, and light up your home. Within a decade, your solar system will have paid for itself, and you can save one hundred thousand dollars or more over your lifetime.
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The Best Ways to Implement Solar Power Systems For Your Home
Posted by admin in Home Solar Energy on July 8th, 2008
Using solar power systems as a supplement to your monthly energy expenditure is a great way to save on electric bills and to help out our planet and the environment. There are some aspects you need to look at before setting up your home solar power system however. First we need to go through the basics of home solar power systems and their characteristics.
Key Features Of Solar Power Systems
The first thing you need to know is how much power your solar power system is going to provide before it is set up. It would be optimal if the solar setup could provide for your home’s entire energy needs. But unfortunately, the giant expense of this kind of solar system makes it cost-ineffective in the short term. In all likelihood, converting your home into “solar” will most likely result in the solar power system providing supplemental energy. It would be a joint effort between the “solar” and “grid”. The home solar power systems that can provide 100% of a home’s energy needs can cost in excess of $50,000 dollars to set up. In addition it is only advisable to set up a system like that when your home is being built as you will need to maximize the energy efficiency of your home in order to use the power effectively.
There are some advantages to being on the grid and using your solar system to supplement your power. The first is that you can be safe and secure knowing that you have a backup to your solar power system. The second advantage is that any extra power you generate you can sell back to the electric company. This can help to offset the cost of the installation of the system. In addition if you add a battery onto your system you can also have power when the local system goes off line. This is a great help for people that live in areas where power outages are frequent..
In addition to solar power, you can also supplement your system with hydro power. Hydro electric power is a great back up to your solar system on cloudy days or in the winter. If you are lucky enough to have property on a river than investing in a hydro system to supplement your solar system is a great idea.
Last but not least, the next thing you have to consider before installing a solar system is the energy efficiency of your home. I would suggest replacing all of your light bulbs with energy efficient florescent ones. In addition, replace old appliances with new energy efficient ones and replace your windows with new thermal efficient double paned windows. These changes will greatly reduce your power consumption during the hot months and the cold winter months. Also make sure your home is highly insulated and sealed so that air does not escape. It’s all about taking the time to optimize your home before s
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Using Solar Energy To Power Your Home
Posted by admin in Solar Power on July 5th, 2008
The sun is where most of the energy on the earth comes from. Solar energy has been used for thousands of years to heat homes and water, but only recently has it been reliably converted to electricity to power our homes.
We have developed solar panels that capture the sun’s energy and then convert the solar power into AC/DC current or electricity. These systems, called renewable energy systems, can harness enough solar energy so that our reliance on the power grid is no longer necessary. The first thing you have to know is how these solar energy systems work.
How A Solar Energy System Works
All solar energy systems have three things in common. The first is that they all use photovoltaic panes as their power source. It’s through the photovoltaic cells that the sun’s energy is converted to DC current. The PV cells are made out of a special semiconductor silicone material. When light photons are absorbed by the cell, they create a movement of electrons within the cell. A current is created. The PV cells are like the turbines and fossil fuel generators found in large power plants, just on a much smaller scale.
The second component is the power storage unit. This stores the incoming energy so that you can use it later. The last component of the system is the converter. Since the electricity derived from the PV cells is direct current or DC, a current converting module is needed to convert the DC current to AC or alternating current which is the type used in most homes.
There are three types of solar energy systems. The first kind is on grid. These systems are on the local power grid and supplement the power received from there with the solar energy. In the event of a blackout, the energy system in the home will go down because there is no way to balance out the load. Any extra power can be sold back to the electric company.
The next type is off grid. Off grid systems are not connected to the local power company. These systems generally will store the power in batteries or in the system itself. In the event of a blackout, the system is fine. Extra power can be used to heat water or air. The last type is an on grid plus battery. These systems have a battery back up to the electric company or the solar energy. In the event of a blackout the system can still run off the battery. In addition power can be sold back to the electric company or stored in the battery.
Now you have the basics of how different types of solar energy systems work. Before you even consider installing one in your home however you are going to need to come up with what your average kilowatt hour usage for a month is. Before you do that, I would suggest making your home as efficient as possible. Replace all your current bulbs with florescent bulbs, get a new fridge, make sure all your windows are double paned, and replace any of your electric appliances with gas if you can. After you do this you will have a good idea of how much power you use and can come up with a solar energy system that will meet your needs.
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