Solar panels on top of a home in Brownington were stolen and its owner is without power indefinitely. Rebecca Roman built the house herself and had solar panels to power everything. Roman's neighbor told police she saw a truck in the driveway with a short man getting out of it. Police are turning to the public to help them locate it. With no insurance, Roman doesn't know if - or how - she and her daughter will get power back.
"Why would you wreck my life this way? I don't make a whole lot of money, I have no insurance, that's why I built my house myself because it was the only way I could afford a house," Roman told NewsChannel 5.
Anyone who thinks they may have seen the truck, the solar panels or any suspicious activity is encouraged to called the Vermont state police at 802-334-8881.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
How Solar Air Heaters Work
Is a solar air heater a good solution for your home? Let's talk first about what it is and what it isn't. A solar air heater is an active system as opposed to a passive system. Passive solar systems rely on heat absorbing structural materials and building orientation that takes advantage of southern exposure. Active solar systems use solar panels to collect solar energy and fans to move the energy to a different place.
A solar air heater is intended to supplement your existing heating system, not replace it. The most efficient way to utilize a solar air heater is to install it where it can blow or diffuse warm air directly into a room that sees a lot of daytime use. Drawing on the principle that warm air rises and cool air sinks, the solar air heater pulls cooled air from the bottom of a room, circulates it through the solar collector where it picks up heat, then blows the warmed air back into the room.
Solar air heaters use roof, wall or window mounted solar collectors to heat the air that passes through them. The solar collector must be mounted on a south-facing roof or wall where it gets full sun exposure that isn't obstructed by trees, tall buildings or other shade producers. Smaller window units can be mounted under a sunny south-facing window. This type of solar air heater extends through the window, so you won't need to install any ducts or vents to enable air flow. These simple, direct-transfer systems don't store heat, so they won't work at night or on cloudy days.
Some larger systems use heat sinks, which consist of materials that can absorb and hold heat for a short time. During the day, excess heat is transferred to the heat sink for storage; when the sun goes down, heated air is transferred from storage to your house. Although a heat sink might extend your use of solar thermal energy into the night, incorporating one into a retrofit heating system is expensive. It can also be hazardous to your health. Moisture that collects in a heat sink fosters mold and bacterial growth on the rocks. When the blower pulls warm air from the heat sink, it also gathers up these contaminants and blows them into your home.
On the next page, we'll talk about costs, installation and maintenance for a solar air heater. Keep reading to see if it's a viable solution for your home.
A solar air heater is intended to supplement your existing heating system, not replace it. The most efficient way to utilize a solar air heater is to install it where it can blow or diffuse warm air directly into a room that sees a lot of daytime use. Drawing on the principle that warm air rises and cool air sinks, the solar air heater pulls cooled air from the bottom of a room, circulates it through the solar collector where it picks up heat, then blows the warmed air back into the room.
Solar air heaters use roof, wall or window mounted solar collectors to heat the air that passes through them. The solar collector must be mounted on a south-facing roof or wall where it gets full sun exposure that isn't obstructed by trees, tall buildings or other shade producers. Smaller window units can be mounted under a sunny south-facing window. This type of solar air heater extends through the window, so you won't need to install any ducts or vents to enable air flow. These simple, direct-transfer systems don't store heat, so they won't work at night or on cloudy days.
Some larger systems use heat sinks, which consist of materials that can absorb and hold heat for a short time. During the day, excess heat is transferred to the heat sink for storage; when the sun goes down, heated air is transferred from storage to your house. Although a heat sink might extend your use of solar thermal energy into the night, incorporating one into a retrofit heating system is expensive. It can also be hazardous to your health. Moisture that collects in a heat sink fosters mold and bacterial growth on the rocks. When the blower pulls warm air from the heat sink, it also gathers up these contaminants and blows them into your home.
On the next page, we'll talk about costs, installation and maintenance for a solar air heater. Keep reading to see if it's a viable solution for your home.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Transparent solar cells
Offering a view of the garden and an adjacent field, it looks like any other window. But this window offers an additional feature: it also produces electricity. The facades of the house, too, harness solar energy to supply the occupants with electrical power. This is what the domestic power supply of the future could look like. The surface area used to produce energy would increase greatly with transparent solar cells.
To translate the vision of see-through solar cells and transparent electronics into reality, two different transparent coatings would be required – one to conduct the electricity via electrons, the n-conductors, and one in which electron holes enable the electricity to flow, the p-conductors. To produce these coatings the engineers dope the base material with a few other atoms. Depending on which atoms they use, they obtain the differently conducting coatings. N-conducting transparent materials are state of the art, but the p-conductors are problematic. Their conductivity is too low and often their transparency is poor. Manufacturers need a transparent base material which is amenable to both n- and p-doping.
At present, indium tin oxide is mainly used for the n-conductors, but this is costly. Indium has become a rare commodity and its price has increased tenfold since 2002. The search for substitute materials is therefore in full swing. At the same time, various questions need to be answered, such as which materials would be best suitable, what they should be doped with to obtain good conductivity, and how good their transparency is. Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM working in cooperation with other Fraunhofer colleagues have developed material physics models and methods which help in the search. “If transparent p-conductors with adequate conductivity could be produced, it would be possible to realize completely transparent electronics,” says Dr. Wolfgang Körner, research scientist at the IWM. Using electron microscope images, the researchers initially determine the grain boundaries which most frequently occur in the material – i.e. irregularities in the ordered crystal structure. These defect structures are modeled atom by atom. Special simulation methods calculate how the electrons are distributed in the structures and thus in the solid body. From the data the researchers extract how conductive and transparent the material is. “We have found, for example, that phosphorus is suitable for p-doping zinc oxide, but that nitrogen is more promising,” says Körner.
To translate the vision of see-through solar cells and transparent electronics into reality, two different transparent coatings would be required – one to conduct the electricity via electrons, the n-conductors, and one in which electron holes enable the electricity to flow, the p-conductors. To produce these coatings the engineers dope the base material with a few other atoms. Depending on which atoms they use, they obtain the differently conducting coatings. N-conducting transparent materials are state of the art, but the p-conductors are problematic. Their conductivity is too low and often their transparency is poor. Manufacturers need a transparent base material which is amenable to both n- and p-doping.
At present, indium tin oxide is mainly used for the n-conductors, but this is costly. Indium has become a rare commodity and its price has increased tenfold since 2002. The search for substitute materials is therefore in full swing. At the same time, various questions need to be answered, such as which materials would be best suitable, what they should be doped with to obtain good conductivity, and how good their transparency is. Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM working in cooperation with other Fraunhofer colleagues have developed material physics models and methods which help in the search. “If transparent p-conductors with adequate conductivity could be produced, it would be possible to realize completely transparent electronics,” says Dr. Wolfgang Körner, research scientist at the IWM. Using electron microscope images, the researchers initially determine the grain boundaries which most frequently occur in the material – i.e. irregularities in the ordered crystal structure. These defect structures are modeled atom by atom. Special simulation methods calculate how the electrons are distributed in the structures and thus in the solid body. From the data the researchers extract how conductive and transparent the material is. “We have found, for example, that phosphorus is suitable for p-doping zinc oxide, but that nitrogen is more promising,” says Körner.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Kittery will be repaid for failed wind turbine
The Town Council voted unanimously to move forward with the acceptance of reimbursement for the town's failed wind turbine, which will be removed by the end of the year.
Members of the council voted to authorize Town Manager Jon Carter to accept money coming in from Colorado-based Entegrity Wind Systems in the total amount of $191,028, after the wind turbine installed by the company last October delivered only 15 percent of its promised electricity yield. Town officials have said wind turbulence from nearby trees at the transfer station location where the turbine was installed probably had a significant impact.
Because of that, the town and Entegrity have brokered an agreement that will have the company pay Kittery back in installments until November, when a large balloon payment will be made to take care of the rest of the cost. After the payments are completed, Entegrity will remove the turbine.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission granted Kittery $50,000 for the project, which Council Chairman Jeff Thomson noted will have to be returned to the commission at some point in the repayment process.
Councilors also gave an informal nod to Kittery's inclusion in Portsmouth's comprehensive recreation needs study, which councilor Ann Grinnell and Carter said Kittery was invited to participate in by Portsmouth City Manager John Bohenko.
Grinnell said the possibility of sharing services and having community use for recreation facilities such as pools and tennis courts spread between both communities made sense.
"I no longer feel that any towns are going to be able to have their own tennis courts, their own basketball courts, their own swimming pools," she said.
Carter told the councilors he would report back to them at their next regular meeting on June 22, which will follow a June 16 organizational meeting to determine how the study will be conducted.
Members of the council voted to authorize Town Manager Jon Carter to accept money coming in from Colorado-based Entegrity Wind Systems in the total amount of $191,028, after the wind turbine installed by the company last October delivered only 15 percent of its promised electricity yield. Town officials have said wind turbulence from nearby trees at the transfer station location where the turbine was installed probably had a significant impact.
Because of that, the town and Entegrity have brokered an agreement that will have the company pay Kittery back in installments until November, when a large balloon payment will be made to take care of the rest of the cost. After the payments are completed, Entegrity will remove the turbine.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission granted Kittery $50,000 for the project, which Council Chairman Jeff Thomson noted will have to be returned to the commission at some point in the repayment process.
Councilors also gave an informal nod to Kittery's inclusion in Portsmouth's comprehensive recreation needs study, which councilor Ann Grinnell and Carter said Kittery was invited to participate in by Portsmouth City Manager John Bohenko.
Grinnell said the possibility of sharing services and having community use for recreation facilities such as pools and tennis courts spread between both communities made sense.
"I no longer feel that any towns are going to be able to have their own tennis courts, their own basketball courts, their own swimming pools," she said.
Carter told the councilors he would report back to them at their next regular meeting on June 22, which will follow a June 16 organizational meeting to determine how the study will be conducted.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Wind turbine maker says it will open Washington plant
A company that makes carbon products for the aerospace, marine and racing industries says it plans to open a plant in the Dayton area in southeast Washington to make blades for wind turbines.
Mark Kean, director of sales and acquisitions for Strategic Composites, says the plant could eventually employ up to 600 workers.
Workers would make the blades from carbon "nanotube" cloth. Kean says it is lighter than the fiberglass used for most wind turbine blades but very strong and durable.
Columbia County -- which had a 12 percent unemployment rate in April -- is home to 225 wind turbines, but Kean says his company's blades likely would be shipped to Texas, California, Wyoming and other windy states.
Mark Kean, director of sales and acquisitions for Strategic Composites, says the plant could eventually employ up to 600 workers.
Workers would make the blades from carbon "nanotube" cloth. Kean says it is lighter than the fiberglass used for most wind turbine blades but very strong and durable.
Columbia County -- which had a 12 percent unemployment rate in April -- is home to 225 wind turbines, but Kean says his company's blades likely would be shipped to Texas, California, Wyoming and other windy states.
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