SOLAR LIGHTS AT BIG LOTS

I live a few blocks away from a Big Lots and like to go in there every once in a while when I need a break. Yesterday I was there and found some outdoor solar lights that I though I would share with you for two reasons. First of all because there are a lot of cool options and secondly because they are reasonably priced. I am not saying that this is a great alternative to having a lighting system installed but if you need temporary lighting then I would highly suggest trying these. Below are some images of what I found that you might be interested in. They also have a collection of garden ornaments and things you might like.

SELL YOUR EXCESS SOLAR ENERGY

I love reading Inhabitat and reading about all kinds of cool things. One thing that I read on there is about a new bill that allows Californians to sell their excess solar energy use. This is awesome! So if you live in California, have solar and generate more power than what you use then you can take that extra power and sell it. Rachel Arrezona a spokes person for the CA governor said "The bill will help California achieve its renewable energy goals by allowing for increased solar installation, more jobs created and more renewable energy in California,". This is definitely a step in the right direction.
If you are thinking about getting solar and unsure then you should attend the Costa Mesa solar tour where you get to see various homes utilizing solar and get a better understanding of how the systems work. As you can see in the picture (my clients house in Santa Ana), the system does not look over powering. When my client got his installed from Solar City he was happy to see his meter running backwards and his monthly electricity bill shrink.

HYBRID STREET LAMPS

Revolutionary or too high tech for our times. You be the judge! Solar and wind powered street lamps. Just image how much energy would be saved. Info below taken from Inhabitat.
"Designed and manufactured by Urban Green Energy these solar/wind powered street lamps are mounted to a standard galvanized steel pole that can be made locally and easily swapped with older street lamps. The turbine on top can be either a 300 W 2nd Generation or a horizontal axis wind turbine. Mounted on the side of the pole are 2 solar panels that are capable of generating up to 80 W of power. The street lamp is capable of producing up to 380 W of power if the sun was shining and the wind were blowing, and the street lamps save excess energy generated in a battery that powers their high efficiency LEDs through the night."

BATTLE OF THE SOLAR BRANDS

With so many different solar companies out there how are we suppose to know what the best choice is for our home. Well my friend Deep Patel owner of Go Green Solar is trying something new and revolutionary in order to find an answer to that question. Simply put he is creating a testing facility in his own back yard. The battle of the solar panels as he calls it. Below is some info from his blog...

"Even though solar panels look very similar to each other, not all are created equal. Each make/model of solar panels have their unique characteristics which allow them to produce more or less power in different environments. By adding Enphase Micro Inverters to each solar panel and connecting the system to the internet, we will be able to share live production data with you through our website 365 days a year."



He will be installing the following six solar panels to kick off the competition off:

#1 - Sanyo HIP-215NKHA5
#2 - REC REC215AE-US
#3 - Sharp ND-U230C1
#4 - Canadian Solar CS6P-230
#5 - SolarWorld SW 230
#6 - Solon P220/6+/01 230Wp

Click Here to read the full blog story on his project.

SOLAR LANTERNS

I actually have one and it works. What is it you may ask well it is simply put a solar powered lantern made by Allsop. These lanterns which come in different shapes and colors are really cool and a fun way to decorate your space for a party with out burning through your electricity bill.


Allsop also makes other solar powered goodies that make the perfect birthday gift. Very fun, cute and festive.

IMBY ONLINE ESTIMATING TOOL

IMBY (in my back yard) is a tool that can calculate how much electricity you can create through solar or wind power. The online tool was created by The National Renewable Energy Lab and is really easy to use.

First you input your address, then you indicate whether you want solar or wind power. You then draw the area on the map of your house were you want the system and then it calculates based on the area you selected what type of system you need etc. Below is the info the tool gave for my mother's house is Irvine, CA assuming a solar system. This is a really neat idea that allows you to determine what you may need without having to sign a contract. I suggest you take it for a test spin. It's free! (you can click on the image to get a closer view)

HE WENT OFF GRID

I was browsing through the treehugger website and came across this that was just impressive. A man in Southwest Texas built a home totally off grid for only $1600. It is what he calls his field lab.

http://www.thefieldlab.org/Home_Page.php

You should totally check out this guys site and learn about his adventures, how he lives and what he does. This is so awesome. Imagine! He lives debt free, pays no electricity bills, harvest rain water and gray water and lives strictly within his means as oppose to the rest of that spend money like it grow on trees.

SOLAR PLANT

I was reading the the Go Green Solar blog and was really fascinated by their recent post about a solar plant. Imagine if we took solar panels and shaped them as leaves or other things. Kinda like the cell phone towers that are made to look like plants. You could have one of these in your garden and use it to power your garden lights thus reducing your electricity bill.

"Unlike traditional solar cells which are crystalline based, the organic thin-film solar cell is composed of a flexible plastic substrate. The three companies that allied towards the development of the solar leaf prototype managed to improve the durability of the solar cell by sealing it between a very thin layer of plastic."