Browsing the archives for the solar category.


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    Must watch video “The Story of Cap and Trade”

    Cap & Trade, Carbon credits, Carbon pricing, Uncategorized, Wind, alternative, carbon offset price, energy, energy conservation, energy efficiency, green living, solar

    Lately everybody seems to have videos on their websites. Usually I find it distracting from the real information I am trying to get. But, every once in a while you find a video that you feel everybody should view. If you want to know more about how the government is handling global warming you need to watch this fun and informative video. Take a few minutes out of your day to make a difference for you planet.

    The Story of Cap & Trade from Story of Stuff Project on Vimeo.

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    • blog traffic exchangeForex Invader Robot I am really excited to announce a major breakthrough in the way you can trade Forex to generate massive profits on auto-pilot and with almost 100% accuracy. This is nothing like you have ever heard before, so I really encourage you to take a few minutes of your time to......
    • rhawks100.gifWatch Portugal Vs Brazil (POR Vs BRA) Soccer Matches 2010 World Cup Live Streaming Online? Watch Portugal vs Brazil (POR vs BRA) Soccer matches 2010 world cup live streaming online? Live Brazil vs Portugal stream from South Africa World Cup Soccer BRA vs POR June 25, 2010 Video CaseCrown iPhone 3G 3GS World Cup Series Case - Three Lions England 2010 (Wireless Phone Accessory) newly......
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    Outdoor, solar powered, LED lighting!

    Uncategorized, energy, energy conservation, energy efficiency, green living, light bulbs, solar

    I have written about LED lights before, I am a great fan. They use less energy and are quite bright, as opposed to some energy saving light bulbs. Now I have found a great home improvement product that will save you time, aggravation and money. Outdoor, solar powered, LED lighting. Now you can place a light post at the end of your driveway without running wiring underground or hiring an electrician, plus this is real lighting, not just accent lighting so you and your guests can really see your way in the dark. No leaving the light on before you leave for work in the morning, the lights come on automatically at dusk and shut off at dawn. All this for about what you would pay for conventional lighting and no electrician and no electric bills now or in the future.  Be the first in your neighborhood to have the greenest outdoor lighting available.

    Super Bright Solar Powered LED Lamps

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    • greenhouseGreen Home Improvement Tips The green home improvement movement is very strong these days.  It seems that no matter which direction you look, you’ll find some new article being written about it.  Some of the articles are written by people that are very gung-ho about ecologically friendly home improvement.  There is nothing wrong with......
    • Off Grid LivingLiving Off Power Grid: Are You Enjoying It Yet? More and more people have started to realize that you can enjoy today's luxuries and the independence of living off power grid at the same time.  Living off the power grid means being just that - off the grid.  No power lines, no electric bills, and no reliance on the......
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    Are we selling the U.S. to the foreigners?

    Wind, alternative, energy, energy conservation, energy efficiency, forum, green living, solar

    I don’t usually like to get political or get involved in the discussion of the national economy, but… It just seems to me that when a company from a foreign country comes in and buys a large portion of an American company it threatens our national security. Just my personal opinion. Now I am reading how companies from Japan and Germany are coming in and buying into American renewable energy to take advantage of new renewable energy initiatives (http://bit.ly/B5Byb). Are we selling ourselves and our wind overseas? I would love to hear your comments on this.

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    • blog traffic exchangeLearn About Solar Power And Its Applications by Jim Martin Understand the workings of solar power and understand how it can help us by coming in use in various energy generating applications. Where do we get solar power from and how does it work? The popularity of solar power seems undiminished even after decades of its discovery.......
    • Solar Energy Is Not New. The following is a guest post by Nan Fischer, a Certified EcoBroker specializing in green real estate in Taos, NM. Check out her website www.nanfischer.com, and follow her on Twitter for a daily green news feed, www.twitter.com/nan_fischer. Nan writes about green building, solar energy and the environment on her blog,......
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    Energy Saving Screens

    Uncategorized, alternative, energy, energy conservation, energy efficiency, green living, solar

    My wonderful husband has taught our German Shepherd, Duke, to open and close the screen door by himself. It originally started innocently enough. We were remodeling downstairs and often times my husband would be carrying heavy things in and out and nobody was around to open the door for him. Duke would jump through hoops of fire for my husband and quickly mastered this trick. The problem is that now the remodel is over, I refuse to use the energy to turn on the air conditioner so the doors are always open, and now Duke uses the screen door as his private doggy door. Needless to say the screen has been pushed through and ripped and is now a public mosquito entrance.

     I decided to go online and see if any of the local stores carried that pet screening that stretches instead of ripping when an animal jumps up. What I found is a great energy saving screen. A company named Phifer, that makes the pet screening, makes a whole line of screening and fabric. I never even knew there was something called weave technology, where the type of fabric woven in different ways can have different effects. The one that caught my eye was the Super Solar Screen.

     The company claims the Super Solar Screening reflects 90% of the suns heat and glare, improves daytime privacy, and still allows for excellent outward visibility, not to mention it keeps the bugs out. Sounds like the claims on an infomercial, but at the Home Depot site the product had been rated and review by two individuals. Both reviews gave the screening 5 out of 5 stars and both said it performed as advertised.

     This will be a huge benefit for a house like mine that faces northwest. I get full sun at my backdoor every morning in the summer; I don’t like to open the door and shades because it raises the temperature in the house. Then in the late afternoon I get the full effect of the sun as it gets ready to set so I have to close all the doors and shades on that side of the house. I am hoping with my Super Solar Screen, I will be able to get airflow from the windows and doors without the heat and glare from the sun. If I decide to turn on the air conditioner it should not have to work as hard with the Super Solar Screen. But maybe with the heat and sun reflected away from the house I won’t have to turn on the air conditioner at all. Sounds like a huge energy saver to me.

     As for my screen door, apparently there is no pet friendly screen that can hold back a German Shepherd. I am going to replace the screen with the Super Solar Screen and buy pet guards to keep Duke from going through it.

    Blog Traffic Exchange Related Websites
    • solarscreensSolar Screens Solar Screens are the perfect window treatment for your living rooms, family rooms, media rooms, or any form of entertainment room. Also known as solar shades, solar screens offer the ultimate in technology for light control while still providing great, stylish looks. In terms of operation, solar screens are very......
    • Green Screen: Making The Impossible Possible Green screen is one of the most well liked techniques employed in the creation of films. How often have people been awed by the fantastic antics done by super heroes on the enormous screen? Many have wondered how heroes are able to jump from a tall building without getting hurt,......
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    Take Action Now!

    Uncategorized, Wind, alternative, energy, energy conservation, energy efficiency, green living, solar

    Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. – Helen Keller

     Sometimes people don’t vote because they think “one vote can’t change anything”. I think the 2000 election proved that wrong, but some people still don’t believe. Now is your time to be counted by your elected officials. If you want this country to move forward with cleaner energy contact you Congressional Representatives and Senators today. It only takes a minute but can help save the earth a life time.

     Click here to email your U.S. Representative and Senators about the NAT GAS Act today!

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    • Solar Energy Is Not New. The following is a guest post by Nan Fischer, a Certified EcoBroker specializing in green real estate in Taos, NM. Check out her website www.nanfischer.com, and follow her on Twitter for a daily green news feed, www.twitter.com/nan_fischer. Nan writes about green building, solar energy and the environment on her blog,......
    • Is Solar Right For Me? - Part 1. This is part 1 of "Is Solar Right For Me?" from Neil Kaminar, author of Solar Basics. Part 2 will appear next week. The answer may be no. There are many factors that determine if solar is right for your home, including your motivation, how much electricity you use, the......
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    Habitat for Humanity, a Homerun for Energy Efficient Products

    Uncategorized, Wind, alternative, energy, forum, green living, heating options, light bulbs, solar

    In a June 1st article by Dan Cook, in Arizona’s The Daily Courier, he wrote about a Habitat for Humanity home that had been built as a “net-zero energy” house.  The idea is to use smart building products and techniques, as well as alternative energy sources, such as solar, so that the house does not use any energy from the grid or fossil fuel. This is a whole new niche in the building industry and there is an unlimited amount of products and services to choose from. The problem is that builders and prospective  homeowners, we don’t know which products are proven, or will work in our situation, or have a chance to see the product installed or talk to a builder who has actually installed the product.

     

    That is why I found this article interesting. If the companies offering these great new innovative energy saving products donated them to Habitat for Humanity, we would all benefit. First the company would win, getting actual exposure to the public with their product, as well as goodwill, for donating the product. Any builder interested in the product could donate their time to help install the product at the Habitat for Humanity job site. This gives them goodwill for helping, but also gives them experience with new products and techniques that they can sell to their clients. The homeowner wins because they are buying a product that they have seen work and are having it installed by someone who has had experience with the product. The recipient of the Habitat for Humanity home wins with lower or no utility bills. And last, but not least, the environment wins every time we do not use fossil fuel to power our world. This could be the ultimate win-win situation.

    Blog Traffic Exchange Related Websites
    • blog traffic exchangeSolar-Powered Camping Products Let's face it: if you're going to be taking an extended trip into the woods, nature doesn't exactly provide power outlets with every tree. The more rustic your camping experience will be, the more you're going to depend on unusual sources for power and energy. Luckily, we have solar technology......
    • gel fuel fireplaceGel Fuel Fireplaces: A Frugal Home Heating Alternative You've all heard the predictions about home heating costs going up this winter. Combined with the current state of our economy, the idea of paying more to heat your home might be enough to send some people over the edge. As a result, people are looking into alternative home heating......
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    Go To a Convention For FREE!

    Uncategorized, Wind, alternative, energy, forum, green living, heating options, light bulbs, solar

    Haven’t you always wanted to go to a convention and find out more information, but you just couldn’t justify the time and expense of going? Now is your chance. Virtual Energy Forum is offering a free two-day converence on clean energy. No plane trip, no hotel room and no credit card bill!

    Just sit down at your computer and wonder through the convention. Catch a live presentation by a keynote speaker or ask a vendor some questions. All while sitting at your desk, you can learn the latest about the most important issue facing the world.

    This is your chance to find out how you can make a difference in clean energy without wasting any of your energy. Sign up today for free at Virtual Energy Forum. They can’t make it any easier than that. Set the date June 24th and June 25th, 2009.

    Blog Traffic Exchange Related Websites
    • blog traffic exchangeComprehensive source of incentives for renewable energy. We all know we should be doing more to use renewable energy and to be more efficient in our use of said energy, but sometimes the cost of doing so is just too much for an individual to bear. The average cost to install solar panels for your house is......
    • Is Solar Right For Me? - Part 1. This is part 1 of "Is Solar Right For Me?" from Neil Kaminar, author of Solar Basics. Part 2 will appear next week. The answer may be no. There are many factors that determine if solar is right for your home, including your motivation, how much electricity you use, the......
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    Solar panels are evolving

    energy, green living, solar

    One of the largest hurdles of solar photovoltaic panels is converting their production of DC (direct current) electricity into AC (alternating current). AC current is what all household electrical systems use. Solar panels are usually placed on a roof top and wired and grounded together. Then the high voltage DC electricity is collected and fed to an inverter where it is changed to AC and fed into the household system. This causes the solar array to perform only as well as the least performing panel. So if one panel gets shaded in the afternoon, all the panels get “shaded” in the afternoon.

    A California based company, Akeena Solar Inc. , is changing the design of their Andalay solar panels to include a micro inverter in each panel. This means that the electricity produced by each panel will be converted to AC as it leaves the panel and is then fed directly into the house electrical system. If one panel becomes shaded all the other panels will still be producing AC electricity at their optimal levels. Because each of the Andalay panels already comes with a built in rack system, and comes with its own micro inverter, the company predicts design and installation costs to go down by as much as 25% and efficiency to go up by 5% to 25%.

    Akeena has found a way to make solar more efficient and financially feasible to more consumers. With the federal and state tax credits available it almost doesn’t make sense for most households not to try solar. Until more households start using the technology today, the industry will not be able to learn and develop how to make solar more cost efficient for the future. Solar has always been expensive and will remain so until the industry is given the time and resources to find a “better way.” In the meantime it is never too soon to reduce our carbon emissions.

    Akeena Solar Inc. plans to start producing the panels in 2009.

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    • green.jpgQuick Green Reads For The Weekend Volume Sixty Five. It's amazing to think that we only have 6 weeks left of living here in Southern California. After all these years of living here, it sure seems strange to be preparing to move 900 miles away. But we are excited about our new adventure in New Mexico! While I......
    • blog traffic exchangeHow much is solar panel power going for these days? A friend at work mentioned a few days ago that he was interested in getting some solar panels.  He's already taken a few steps to make his family more self-sufficient and less reliant on public utilities, and this is the next step. I began to wonder what kind of money......
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