I've noticed that we haven't had an education post in awhile, so here we go.
Several facts that you didn't know about energy efficiency:
By taking appropriate energy-saving measures, by 2010 the United States can have an energy system that reduces costs by $530 per household per year and reduces global warming pollutant emissions to 10 percent below 1990 levels. (Energy Innovations report)
Just by using the "off the shelf" energy-efficient technologies available today, we could cut the cost of heating, cooling, and lighting our homes and workplaces by up to 80%. (U.S. Department of Energy and Maryland Energy Administration)
Replacing one incandescent lightbulb with an energy-saving compact fluorescent bulb means 1,000 pounds less carbon dioxide is emitted to the atmosphere and $67 dollars is saved on energy costs over the bulb's lifetime. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Alliance to Save Energy)
A decrease of only 1% in industrial energy use would save the equivalent of about 55 million barrels of oil per year, worth about $1 billion.
The bottom line is... Let this be your motivation.
10/7/2008 UPDATE: The last thing we want to do is provide incorrect information. We've updated this post with facts for each point of view.
Just in case our first post about Proposition 7 didn't provide enough information for you, we've collected some of the pros and cons for you to review.
Again, we're just a solar company. We're not trying to tell you how to vote. We simply want to provide the information that you need. ...............PROS (via yeson7.net)
Prop. 7 expands the renewable requirements for all utilities from 20% to 50%. All wind and solar companies will benefit from this market growth, regardless of size. It is basic economics.
Replace half of the fossil fuels used for electricity generation in California with clean energy technologies such as solar, geothermal, wind, biomass, and small hydro.
Unlike today, all utilities -- including municipally owned utilities like Los Angeles Department of Water and Power -- will be required to comply with renewable energy laws.
...............CONS (via NProp7.com)
Contains a provision that virtually guarantees that electricity consumers will pay 10% above market rates for renewable power forever -- even when the costs of solar and wind sources become more competitive.
Will cost consumers and taxpayers hundreds of millions per year in higher electric rates – a $300 increase per household per year.
Prop. 7 locks into law many flaws that are currently stifling renewable power development in California and creates new roadblocks to renewable development. For instance, Prop. 7 arbitrarily shifts authority over the renewables market from the California Public Utilities Commission to the California Energy Commission, which could lead to significant delays, added bureaucracy and costly lawsuits.
I recently started watching a new show on the Discovery Channel. It's called How It's Made, and it's basically a show that gives an in depth look at the process it takes to make some of the most random stuff.
I saw one episode where they featured mattresses and another episode where they featured boomerangs, so they pretty much cover everything under the sun. The episode that I'm sharing with you shows off solar panels. It's broken up into two parts.
In the first video, fast forward to 6:10. The second video picks up where the first one left off. Enjoy:
The bottom line is... There's a ton of work that goes into making these things.
We've taken a short break from environmental facts, but now we're back with some interesting information about renewables.
Only 7.5 percent of total U.S. energy consumption came from renewable sources in 1998. Of that total, 94 percent was from hydropower and biomass (trash and wood incinerators). (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
For the 2 billion people without access to electricity, it would be cheaper to install solar panels than to extend the electrical grid. (The Fund for Renewable Energy Everywhere)
Within 15 years, renewable energy could be generating enough electricity to power 40 million homes and offset 70 days of oil imports.
The bottom line is... The second fact blows my mind.
I made a routine stop at YouTube and found a video pertaining to solar energy. It features a guy playing a handmade Solar Theremin. Have a look:
This is a pretty cool video, but if you're like me, you're probably asking yourself, "What on earth is theremin?" According to the Wiktionary, a theremin is
An electronic musical instrument that generates sound of varying pitch and volume depending on the proximity of the musician's hands to two antennae mounted on the instrument.
At the top of the post, you'll see a modern version of a theremin.
The bottom line is... You learn something new everyday.
We'll take a break from all the solar facts and information to give you some startling statistics regarding global warming.
Worldwide, 1995 was the warmest year since global temperatures were first kept in 1856. This supports the near consensus among climatologists that emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases are causing global warming. (Chivilan and Epstein, Boston Globe)
The United States is the world's largest single emitter of carbon dioxide, accounting for 23 percent of energy-related carbon emissions worldwide. (U.S. Department of Energy)
An average of 23,000 pounds of carbon dioxide are emitted annually in each American home. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
Carbon emissions in North America reached 1,760 million metric tons in 1998, a 38 percent increase since 1970. They are expected to grow another 31 percent, to 2,314 million metric tons, by the year 2020. (U.S. Department of Energy)
On average, 16 million tons of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere every 24 hours by human use worldwide. (U.S. Department of Energy)
The bottom line is... We Americans need to do a better job.
Volunteering to go green is one thing, but what if you were forced to go green? We all know that it's for a good cause, but does the government have to right to force its citizens to be environmentally friendly?
People in Germany are currently debating this question because in Marburg, the citizens are going to be forced to use solar panels on their homes. Here's an excerpt from the NY Times article:
"The town council took the significant step in June of moving from merely encouraging citizens to install solar panels to making them an obligation. The ordinance, the first of its kind in Germany, will require solar panels not only on new buildings, which fewer people oppose, but also on existing homes that undergo renovations or get new heating systems or roof repairs.
To give the regulation teeth, a fine of 1,000 euros, about $1,500, awaits those who do not comply.
Critics howled that the rule, which is to go into effect on Oct. 1, constituted an attack on the rights of property owners. The regional government in Giessen stepped in and warned that it would overturn the rule." - Nicholas Kulish
The bottom line is... Eventually, everyone should move towards better energy sources, but it should definitely be on their own terms.
I recently saw a Sharp commercial that showed off some of the company's new solar endeavors. I wanted to post it here, but I browsed YouTube for awhile and couldn't find it. I ended up discovering another cool video. It features a guy who drives a car powered by wind and solar energy.
Have a look:
The bottom line is... Sometimes you have to sacrifice style for the good of the environment.
I guarantee you didn't know these facts about the greatness of wind:
Wind power is the fastest-growing energy source in the world. (Worldwatch Institute)
The wind in North Dakota alone could produce a third of America's electricity. (The Official Earth Day Guide to Planet Repair)
Wind power has the potential to supply a large fraction--probably at least 20%--of U.S. electricity demand at an economical price.
In 1990, California's wind power plants offset the emission of more than 2.5 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, and 15 million pounds of other pollutants that would have otherwise been produced.
Using 100 kWh of wind power each month is equivalent to planting ½ acre of trees and NOT driving 2,400 miles
The bottom line is... We're all about solar, but wind is good too.
In case you haven't heard, there will be a total solar eclipse on August 1st. This will be the first total solar eclipse since 2006.
Here at Solar Arcadia, we're experts on solar panels and solar cell phone chargers, not solar eclipses. So to help you understand the science behind a solar eclipse, we grabbed a few quotes from Space.com articles:
"Solar eclipses occur when the moon moves in front of the sun. This can happen only at the time of a new moon, when the moon is between Earth and the sun, therefore making the latter no longer visible in our daytime sky."
"The total eclipse begins at sunrise over Northern Canada's Queen Maud Gulf, where the moon's umbra will first touch down on the Earth, resulting in Canada's hosting its first total solar eclipse since February 26, 1979."
"Any given spot on the Earth's surface will play host to a total solar eclipse on an average of once every 375 years."
The bottom line is... You'll probably never witness one, but it's still cool.
The first part of this post focused on Photovoltaic Electricity. This post will take a closer look at Solar Thermal Electricity.
Like solar cells, solar thermal systems use solar energy to make electricity. But as the name suggests, solar thermal systems use the sun's heat to do it.
Most solar thermal systems use solar collectors with mirrored surfaces to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver that heats a liquid. The super-heated liquid is used to make steam that drives a turbine to produce electricity in the same way that coal, oil, or nuclear power plants do.
Solar thermal systems may be one of three types: central receiver, dish, or trough. A central receiver system uses large mirrors on top of a high tower to reflect sunlight onto a receiver. This system has been dubbed a "solar power tower." Another system uses a dish-shaped solar collector to collect sunlight. This system resembles a television satellite dish. A third system uses mirrored troughs to collect sunlight. Until recently, trough systems seemed the most promising.
The world's first solar electric plant used mirrored troughs. LUZ, as the plant was called, was perfectly situated in the sunny Mojave desert of California. LUZ was the only solar plant to generate electricity economically. Dollar for dollar, it had always been cheaper to use conventional sources of energy (coal, oil, nuclear) to generate electricity. But the LUZ solar plant turned that around, producing electricity as cheaply as many new coal plants, and with no hidden pollution costs. The future looked bright for this pioneering solar plant and then the dream cracked. LUZ closed its doors at the end of 1992 because of a drop in oil prices and an over-budget construction project at LUZ's home-base.
The bottom line is...
LUZ may be gone, but most solar energy engineers believe solar power towers will be ready to take the place of trough systems very soon.
If you enjoyed our educational posts about solar electricity, be sure to subscribe to our blog to stay updated.
Besides heating homes and water, solar energy also can be used to produce electricity. Two ways to generate electricity from solar energy are photovoltaics and solar thermal systems.
In this two-part post, we'll focus on Photovoltaic Electricity first...
Photovoltaic comes from the words photo meaning "light" and "volt", a measurement of electricity. Sometimes photovoltaic cells are called PV cells or solar cells for short. You are probably already familiar with solar cells. Solar-powered calculators, toys, and telephone call boxes all, use solar cells to convert light into electricity.
A photovoltaic cell is made of two thin slices of silicon sandwiched together and attached to metal wires. The top slice of silicon, called the N-layer, is very thin and has a chemical added to it that provides the layer with an excess of free electrons. The bottom slice, or P-layer, is much thicker and has a chemical added to it so that it has very few free electrons.
When the two layers are placed together, an interesting thing happens- an electric field is produced that prevents the electrons from traveling from the top layer to the bottom layer. This one-way junction with its electric field becomes the central part of the PV cell.
When the PV cell is exposed to sunlight, bundles of light energy known as photons can knock some of the electrons from the bottom P-layer out of their orbits through the electric field set up at the P-N junction and into the N-layer.
The N-layer, with its abundance of electrons, develops an excess of negatively charged electrons. This excess of electrons produces an electric force to push the additional electrons away. These excess electrons are pushed into the metal wire back to the bottom P-layer, which has lost some of its electrons.
This electrical current will continue flowing as long as radiant energy in the form of light strikes the cell and the pathway, or circuit, remains closed.
Current PV cell technology is not very efficient. Today's PV cells convert only about 10 to 14 percent of the radiant energy into electrical energy. Fossil fuel plants, on the other hand, convert from 30-40 percent of their fuel's chemical energy into electrical energy. The cost per kilowatt-hour to produce electricity from PV cells is presently three to four times as expensive as from conventional sources. However, PV cells make sense for many uses today, such as providing power in remote areas or other areas where electricity is difficult to provide. Scientists are researching ways to improve PV cell technology to make it more competitive with conventional sources.
Stay tuned for the 2nd part of this post, where we'll focus on solar thermal systems.
1. World energy consumption is expected to increase 40% to 50% by the year 2010, and the global mix of fuels--renewables (18%), nuclear (4%), and fossil (78%)--is projected to remain substantially the same as today; thus global carbon dioxide emissions would also increase 50% to 60%.
2. Among industrialized and developing countries, Canada consumes per capita the most energy in the world, the United Sates ranks second, and Italy consumes the least among industrialized countries.
3. Developing countries use 30% of global energy. Rapid population growth, combined with economic growth, will rapidly increase that percentage in the next 10 years.
4. The World Bank estimates that investments of $1 trillion will be needed in this decade and upwards of $4 trillion during the next 30 years to meet developing countries' electricity needs alone.
5. Residential appliances, including heating and cooling equipment and water heaters, consume 90% of all energy used in the U.S. residential sector.
The bottom line is... Stick with Solar Arcadia, we'll be sure to fill you in on any solar-related information.
In the 1970s, the push for renewable energy sources was driven by oil shortages and price increases. Today, the push for renewable energy sources is driven by a renewed concern for the environment.
Solar energy is the prototype of an environmentally friendly energy source. It consumes none of our precious energy resources, makes no contribution to air, water, or noise pollution, does not pose a health hazard, and contributes no harmful waste products to the environment.
There are other advantages too. Solar energy cannot be embargoed or controlled by any one nation. And it will not run out until the sun goes out.
In our Solar Thermal article, we gave you some information about how solar water heaters save money and the environment. This article will offer a little more information on how solar water heating works...
Water heating is usually the second leading home energy expense, costing the average family over $400, a year. Depending on where you live, and how much hot water your family uses, a solar water heater can pay for itself in as little as five years. A well-maintained system can last 15-20 years, longer than a conventional water heater.
A solar water heater works in the same way as solar space heating. A solar collector is mounted on the roof, or in an area of direct sunlight. It collects sunlight and converts it to heat.
When the collector becomes hot enough, a thermostat starts a pump. The pump circulates a fluid, called a heat transfer fluid, through the collector for heating. The heated fluid then goes to a storage tank where it heats water.
The hot water may then be piped to a faucet or shower head. Most solar water heaters that operate in winter use a heat transfer fluid, similar to antifreeze, that will not freeze when the weather turns cold.
Today over 1.5 million homes in the U.S. use solar heaters to heat water for their homes or swimming pools.
The bottom line is... You should join the 1.5 million.
Research shows that an average household with an electric water heater spends about 25% of its home energy costs on heating water.
Solar water heaters offered the largest potential savings, with solar water-heater owners saving as much as 50% to 85% annually on their utility bills over the cost of electric water heating.
You can expect a simple payback of 4 to 8 years on a well-designed and properly installed solar water heater. (Simple payback is the length of time required to recover your investment through reduced or avoided energy costs.) Solar water heaters do not pollute. By investing in one, you will be avoiding carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and the other air pollution and wastes created when your utility generates power or you burn fuel to heat your household water. When a solar water heater replaces an electric water heater, the electricity displaced over 20 years represents more than 50 tons of avoided carbon dioxide emissions alone.
The bottom line is... Solar water heaters will save you some money and help the environment.
Welcome to the official blog for Solar Arcadia. This is a great place to find exciting news about the solar industry and the latest information regarding iPhones and iPods.
Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you already know that Barack Obama has become the next President of the United States.
Looks like you all voted NO and NO. Screenshot taken from cbs5.com. 
Election Day is rapidly approaching. Being a solar-company, there are two propositions on the election ballot that we're concerned with:
With all the lights and decorations needed to make Halloween fun, it's a great time to go solar.
I've noticed that we haven't had an education post in awhile, so here we go.
...............PROS (via yeson7.net)
...............CONS (via NProp7.com)
We've taken a short break from environmental facts, but now we're back with some interesting information about renewables.
We'll take a break from all the solar facts and information to give you some startling statistics regarding global warming.
Using biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine substantially reduces emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, sulfates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and particulate matter.
Volunteering to go green is one thing, but what if you were forced to go green? We all know that it's for a good cause, but does the government have to right to force its citizens to be environmentally friendly?
I recently saw a Sharp commercial that showed off some of the company's new solar endeavors. I wanted to post it here, but I browsed YouTube for awhile and couldn't find it. I ended up discovering another cool video. It features a guy who drives a car powered by wind and solar energy.
In case you haven't heard, there will be a total solar eclipse on August 1st. This will be the first total solar eclipse since 2006.
The first part of this post focused on Photovoltaic Electricity. This post will take a closer look at Solar Thermal Electricity.
Besides heating homes and water, solar energy also can be used to produce electricity. Two ways to generate electricity from solar energy are photovoltaics and solar thermal systems.
1. World energy consumption is expected to increase 40% to 50% by the year 2010, and the global mix of fuels--renewables (18%), nuclear (4%), and fossil (78%)--is projected to remain substantially the same as today; thus global carbon dioxide emissions would also increase 50% to 60%.
Solar Energy and the Environment
In our Solar Thermal article, we gave you some information about how solar water heaters save money and the environment. This article will offer a little more information on how solar water heating works...
Research shows that an average household with an electric water heater spends about 25% of its home energy costs on heating water.
