Alternative Energy

Add a Comment

Comment by David Einerson on October 27, 2009 at 9:28am

How to improve our efforts to winterize our drafty, old apartment?

Comment by Thomas Maestas on October 21, 2009 at 12:35am

I'm excited about this group taking a stand for the responsible use of energy. I sure hope that EPC's continued dedication to solar panel technology will continue.
As one says, a fraction's taste of the sun might burn a sensitive tongue!
Here in New Mexico, it's a shame to see ~300 days of the year's sunlight, and then watch many homeowners begging PNM for mercy on their next electric bill.
Anyway, looking forward to great activities,
tomas

Comment by David Einerson on October 19, 2009 at 8:28am

Here's a link to the cover letter which will accompany the proposals to CNM and/or UNM.

Comment by David Einerson on October 16, 2009 at 10:14pm

Here's the link to the EPC Alternative Energy Google Group

Comment by David Einerson on October 16, 2009 at 4:55pm

EPC Alt Energy Phase One Proposal

By the way, these two proposals were written by one of our newest EPC Alt Energy group members: Chad Hall. Thank you Chad for doing all this.

Comment by David Einerson on October 15, 2009 at 1:26pm

EPC Energy Proposal gDoc. We can all edit this collaboratively.

Comment by David Einerson on October 8, 2009 at 12:32pm

Building Automation Service (BAS)

BAS is a proposal for remote monitoring and operating of real estate facilities (HVAC, lighting, plumbing, presence, fire, flooding, and smoke detectors) of all branch offices from the enterprise headquarters. This solution will incur no additional costs, other than the cost for the installation of sensors and actuators for functions that are to be controlled. It manages these devices by a set of Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) operations, providing a comprehensive network view to administrators of these control systems.

This solution reduces the need for external servers to manage these disparate facilities, reduces capital and operational costs by integrating the service management capabilities on AXP. In addition, this solution saves energy costs by detecting facilities breakdowns in real-time.

Source

Comment by David Einerson on October 8, 2009 at 12:04am

Solar photovoltaic systems must be paired with inverters to convert the panels’ DC power to the AC power used in homes. So installing a solar array involves sizing an inverter to fit the panels’ output and running a bunch of wiring—not that easy. New panels from Andalay incorporate microinverters, along with racking and wiring—and take a big step toward true plug-and-play solar power for the home. Andalay says future products will be even easier to install.

Source

Comment by David Einerson on October 8, 2009 at 12:03am

Noise, bulk and inconsistent winds have hampered the adoption of wind turbines by homeowners, but a new design could change that. Imad Mahawili, a chemical engineer and long-time wind-energy consultant, has reimagined the technology to take advantage of even light breezes. In a typical wind turbine, air moves the blades, which turn gears to spin a generator and produce a current. Those mechanical linkages siphon off a good deal of wind energy before it can be converted to electricity. Mahawili’s system, the Honeywell Wind Turbine, eliminates the separate generator, and therefore the gearing. The blades are tipped with magnets and enclosed in a wheel that contains coiled copper—in other words, the turbine itself is the electrical generator. With conventional designs, “It takes 7 to 8 mph to overcome the resistance of gears,” Mahawili says. The new system, which weighs 165 pounds and costs about $5500, works in 2-mph winds.

Source

Comment by David Einerson on October 5, 2009 at 6:09pm

Philips SpotOn LED Motion Sensing Portable Light

• First
• Previous
• Next
• Last