Solar Power Your Business

Have you wondered what all the "buzz" is about using solar energy to provide power for your home or business? Perhaps you have thought that the technology is too expensive or otherwise not worth the investment. Its time to change that thinking. More and more often, property owners are installing solar panels on the roofs of buildings, to harness energy from the sun to be converted into electricity. Power bills for the buildings on which the panels are installed drop to next to nothing as a result. Each panel costs between $150 and $1,500, depending on the brand, vendor and wattage. Currently, solar cells cost approximately $4.30 per watt. For a 50-watt solar panel, the total cost is about $215. The number and square footage of panels required to power a business is determined by calculating watt-hours of electricity typically used over a 24-hour period. Not surprisingly, the expense of the initial installation is the biggest hurdle.
Sun Edison and MMA Renewables specialize in providing financing and solar power installations for commercial customers. In addition, expect to see more tax incentives for renewable energy sources in the future. Additional information about current incentives and subsidies can be found at The Solar Guide.

In Bend, Oregon, one local newspaper has installed solar panels on the roof of its building. The Source Weekly is located near the downtown center in a historic building. Known as an off-beat, quirky news organization, perhaps it is not surprising that it is also forward-thinking with respect to solar energy. Solar panels installed on the rooftop are proudly visible to passers-by which, is both innovative marketing and good, green sense. If a small business can successfully incorporate solar power into its business model, perhaps its time that larger organizations start to do the same.

Images by Stephanie Hicks (Bend, Oregon - July 11, 2008)

Solar Powered Big Wheel

Ready for a ride? Go along with the Hippy Gourmet as he interviews Stanford University's award winning professor and inventor Bob Schneeveis. Always up for a bit of fun with renewable energy, Bob shows off his one-of-a-kind solar powered big wheel built for two. The features of this odd solar powered vehicle will surprise you!

Solar Taxi on Tour

If you thought Solar Taxi was the name of a new rock group, think again. The Solar Taxi is a two-seater solar powered electric car that can go over 200 miles without recharging and can reach a maximum speed of 60 MPH. The car is powered by a five-meter solar trailer covered with six square meters of solar cells. Electricity is stored in a newly invented ZEBRA battery. It’s the brainchild of Swiss teacher, adventurer and environmentalist, Louis Palmer, whose dream is to drive this car around the world without using a single drop of gas or creating a single CO2 emission. His dream is coming true right now. The point, according to Palmer, is bigger than a personal challenge. He wants draw attention to the need for alternatives to fossil fuel and to demonstrate that there are solutions to global warming.

The Solar Taxi team started driving west from Europe last July and has now traveled more than 34,000 kilometers covering India, China, S. Korea, and Australia. At the moment they are cruising down the west coast of the United States—country number 28 so far—making stops at various UC campuses before heading east. They plan to be in Montreal by the end of September. The tour will finish at the World Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland on December 3^rd. You can check out the route here. Stop by and say hello if you have a chance.

Driving the Solartaxi in India
Holy Cow :-) The Solartaxi team had to lean on the horn driving in India

from Shanghai to Beijing in China
Solartaxi takes on Chinese beaurocracy-- they don't call it red tape for nothing :-)

Solar Power Can be Entertaining

Is your head starting to spin with all you've been hearing about solar power and alternative energy sources? Maybe you've been to the Santa Monica pier in California! A world-famous ferris wheel is powered by solar panels, and illuminated with LED lights, making it one of the premier attractions at the park.

The amusement park ride was first constructed in 1996 and was the first and only solar powered ferris wheel in the world. A new ferris wheel opened just in time for Memorial Day weekend in May 2008, at the cost of $1.5 million. The incorporation of 160,000 LED lights on the ride cuts energy consumption and costs for the park as a whole, while installed solar panels generate over 71,000 Kw hours of PV power. Use of solar power allows the 90-foot ride, and its 800 passengers per hour, to operate wholly on clean, renewable energy. Now that is something we can all smile about, while we go around and around on the benefits of solar energy.

Photo by Daquella manera Thank you!

Solar Powered Gate Opener

Looking to save on your energy bill? Who isn't? More and more these days, solar panels are being installed to use energy from the sun and convert it to electrical current. Living in a very "Green" city, Bend, Oregon, I have noticed a number of creative ways that homeowners and businesses are using new PV technology to power everything from traffic signals, school reader boards and gates. One property owner along a busy thoroughfare has gated his driveway to prevent trespassers who like to cut through a gravel shortcut to a nearby trail system. The gate is powered by a solar panel, which probably cost between $150 and $250 (including shipping). That's it! Companies such as Hoover Fence Company offer the solar panels for sale on their websites. Energy from the sun will power as many as 15 gate openings per day. You can even preview installation manuals on-line to determine how easy it is to get a solar powered gate up and running on your property.

Of course, not all gates are as rustic as some of these models. For luxury properties, you may wish to consider a $1500-$2000 gorgeous wrought iron solar energy operated gate. Amazing Gates is one company that manufacturers these beauties. Not only can you purchase solar powered gates directly online, but you may also view installation videos. You'll be able enjoy significant savings on your power bill, and the next time there is a storm or power-outage in your area, you need not worry about getting through your solar-powered gate.

Still "on the fence" about whether to get a solar-powered gate opener? Let me tell you: the grass is definitely greener on this side.

AmazingGates Installation Video part 1

Video Part 2

Video Part 3

Photos by Stephanie Hicks (Bend, Oregon, USA 7/7/08)

A Green Light for Solar Panels

Solar energy is free and plentiful. And it doesn't have to be a bright sunny day in order to harness the power of the sun to electrify our lives. If we can use solar power to energize our laptops and cell phones, even our homes, why not cut down on the energy costs associated with traffic management? PV solar panels can be installed on or near traffic signs to power flashing lights that alert drivers and pedestrians to conditions on the road. Northwest Power LLC, based in Colorado, produces Solar Traffic Signs that will work in cloudy coastal regions, as well as sunnier climes.
While out for a weekend run, I discovered one of these devices about 2 miles from my home. On the front of the sign is a cautionary blinking light, signaling a busy intersection ahead. The PV panel absorbs solar energy which is converted into electrical power; a battery is located at the base of the sign. Among the benefits including lower energy costs for the governmental agencies maintaining the signs, include the ability to avoid running power lines and/or trenching, as well as lower maintenance costs. The technology has spread to allow use of solar power to energize street lights, traffic lights and brighten road studs. Importantly, these traffic signals will continue to function in the event of a power failure when the need for safety alerts may be most critical. With all these positive features, government agencies should be getting the green light to install these reliable, energy-efficient signals.


Photos by Stephanie Hicks

NOT Working on Solar Panel Powered Electric Cars Says Dyson-Just a Digital Motor

The news was announced a couple of weeks ago in an article in Britain’s respected Independent newspaper. England’s most famous inventor, Sir James Dyson, is developing an electric car powered by solar panels and capable of real speed and distance. Web Pundits and bloggers all over the world picked up on it right away. What an appealing idea: The man who liberated the housewife from icky vacuum cleaner bags is going to free us all from the tyranny of the internal combustion engine. The news spread across the internet with the speed of a Paris Hilton video.

And then the Dyson spin machine turned on and the retractions started. Bloggers and web-pundits who had heralded the news last week have taken it all back in the past few days. The company’s Public Information office explained that Sir James, in his interview with the Independent, was talking about their cutting edge digital vacuum cleaner motor and just observed that it could possibly be used to power an electric car. The journalists misunderstood.(yeah, sure) Listen to the audio clip on Gas2.0.com.

I, for one, don’t believe a word of it. Journalists, particularly in big print media, are big on fact-checking and getting quotes right. The reclusive Dyson just wants the media off his back is what I think. Who can blame him? I wouldn’t want the pressure either if I were in his shoes. But I bet the work goes on, and I’d put my money on Dyson any day to come up with just what the world needs—a fast electric car powered by solar roof panels.

Photo by nobihaya Thank you!

From Dyson Vacuum Cleaners to Solar Panels Powered Cars

I filled up my car with gas this morning and had one of those déjà vu moments. Waiting my turn in a line of ten cars, I was transported back thirty years to the gas lines of the last energy crisis. This morning I saw the same grim desperation in the faces of motorists jockeying for position at the pump. I felt a little desperate myself as I shelled out a king’s ransom for half a tank of gas. Here we go again, I thought. The squeeze is on.

At least one man I have faith in is working on the problem. Britain’s most famous inventor, Sir James Dyson, of Dyson vacuum cleaner fame, is now turning his considerable talents to the development of a solar powered electric car by using solar panels. Traditionally, electric cars, although quiet and pollution-free have been slow—around 30mph—due to the fact that batteries powerful enough to produce speed, and compact enough to not take up all the space in the car, could not be developed. Automakers from Detroit to Tokyo are working on the problem, but most are thinking in terms of batteries that recharge by being plugged in to an electrical outlet of some sort.

Once again, inventor Dyson is thinking outside the box. Reportedly, he and his research group are working on a lightweight electric vehicle whose battery will be charged by solar panels, installed on the roof of the car and on the roof of the garage where the car is parked. Admittedly. there are some kinks to be worked out, but according to Dyson, his lightweight, fast, solar powered vehicle will be road-ready within a few years, and able to travel hundreds of miles between charges.

I don’t know about you, but after paying for my gas this morning, I can hardly wait.

Photo by williac Thank you!

Solar Power Works in Every Day Life (San Jose, California)

Let us look around a bit to see how some solar photovoltaic products, which allow you clean and sustainable way of living, work in every day life.

Low cost and hassle free solar power panels.





Renewable energy is affordable and hassle free. It is our Present and our Future.


p.s.
The future of Solar Power Roof is bright.

How Solar Panel is made? (old fashioned style)

Video shows how the solar panel is made from many solar photovoltaic modules in an old fashioned way, manually. Only 600 solar panels produced per day in this small factory is far away from mass production. All new solar photovoltaic technologies, which are coming to the market could not be price competitive without a massive automated production line, which considerably lower the production costs and lower number of manufacturing faults.
There are two main factors in efforts of achieving as lower production costs as possible per 1W of electrical power produced:
- less quantity of the expensive crystalline silicon material used in solar cells
- higher efficiency rate of solar cells