Live in North Carolina and want to earn some extra money this year? Check this out, Duke Energy Carolinas, a major energy company in North Carolina is looking to rent rooftops of businesses, schools and yes, even residential homes to use for solar power installations!
According to recent reports, the company wants to do quite a bit of new business in the solar industry. Wanting to go green and help bring new, alternative energy methods into their company is at the top of their list of ideas, and as such, “The energy company is proposing to invest $50 million over a two-year period in as many as 425 solar energy arrays atop the rooftops of homes, schools, stores and factories — or on the ground at those properties — to establish a solar distributed generation program.” Wow, go big or go home!
Alas, there are some requirements if you want to join in and make some cold hard cash by renting out your rooftop. First, you must own your home or building, second, the roof on the building must be no more than 5 years old, and finally, the area must not be obscured by shade or trees. In short, it’s gotta be your roof, it’s gotta be new, and it has to actually GET sunlight. Simple enough, yeah?
So, if you DO qualify, why not look into it. Free money and help the environment in one fell swoop. Why not?!
Hello and happy fridgid Monday Morning! With the wind (ironic, no) blowing outside, our temperatures officially hit -35 below zero last night. Yikes. At any rate, wind isn’t always bad, and doesn’t always have to mean frozen faces, cars that won’t start and staying stuck indoors, according to a recent study, wind can mean a LOT more good than that.
With concerns about global warming ever on the rise, new studies about how to best invest in alternative energy are popping up everywhere. Some of the greatest minds alive are focusing their energy and attention on how best to beat these problems, and some of the results are surprising. One of the most recent and relevant of the studies showed some surprising revelations about both wind energy, and ethanol.
The review pits twelve combinations of electric power generation and vehicular motivation against each other. It is a battle royal of nine electric power sources, three vehicle technologies, and two liquid fuel sources. It rates each combination based on eleven categories. And it was all compiled by one man, Mark Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University.
The results of this test might surprise you. They found that “Wind power emerged as the overall victor. When teamed with battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, it claimed the top two spots by winning seven of the eleven categories. Photovoltaics are an unexpected also-ran, failing to make the top five. Politically favored ethanol stands out as the big loser of the study, falling behind “clean coal,” a technology many consider a dead end. Ouch.” Wow. Go wind power!
So, if you’re looking to put some bang into your buck, looks like a lot of people are thinking wind power might be the way to rock.
Florida, in case you did not know, is officially dubbed “The Sunshine State.” Knowing this, wouldn’t you think they’d have a heck of a lot more solar plants, solar fields and other similar alternative energy installments? Yeah, me too. Apparently the focus has been more on retirement homes and high-rise hotels. Just kidding! At any rate, looks like the Sunshine State is going to be living even MORE up to its name as ground has officially been broken on what will be their largest solar plant ever!
According to new reports, Florida Power & Light, the largest utility in the state, broke ground already on what will be the largest, and first utility scale solar investment in the state. Yay! What’s even more impressive, is the fact that it will be a solar-hybrid plant, incorporating a solar-thermal field and a combined-cycle natural gas plant. According to the article,
“Consisting of 180,000 mirrors spread out over 500 acres, FPL’s 75-megawatt Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center is situated on the Atlantic coast just north of Palm Beach County. FPL’s new facility is The Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center will use less fossil fuel when heat from the sun is available to help produce the steam needed to generate electricity. It also matches solar power with an existing combined-cycle natural gas plant, so that when the sun is not shining, the natural gas can take over the work of powering the turbines.”
I have to say, nothing makes me happier than seeing huge utility companies diving head first into alternative energy. The future is now my friends, and the more people, companies, leaders and innovators on board, the better off we’ll all be. Solar is now, let’s do this thing.
Hello and here’s hoping that you’re belly is ready to be stuffed, your pillow is ready to support your head, and your friends and family are ready to laze around, probably watch football, basketball or some early Christmas special on television. That’s right, it’s the time of year once again to give thanks, and so from all of us at Northern Tool, we’re thankful for all of YOU!
That’s right, Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Northern Tool! It’s been great writing for you, speaking to you, and hearing what you all have to say about this crazy and exciting world of alternative energy products, solutions, ideas, tips, hints and suggestions! We love doing it, we love hearing from you and we’re thankful for all of your time!
So, Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Northern Tool! Have a great Holiday, and try to avoid those shopping lines tomorrow!
Each and every day, wireless carriers are expanding further and further into the world. Whereas 10 years ago, cellular phone service and towers were few and far between and only major cities had major service, now, almost anywhere you go on this planet you can fire up your cell phone and get service. The question remains…at what cost?
That answer might be too scary to answer, but the good thing is, wireless carriers the world around are now looking to harness the power of something readily available to us all, the sun, to help expand even deeper into the known world. Base stations for cell phone service requires a lot of energy. That energy can help drive costs up for service in developing areas; by using solar power to power the base stations, costs could go down and the number of people who could afford the service will go up. Win win, right?
According to the article I read, “Solar power, of course, is not the only renewable energy source being looked at by carriers. Wind power may also have potential in areas that receive less solar energy, but it tends to be less predictable.” I just love seeing alternative energy being used as a viable means to power something that we all rely on. Keep tuned to this one, I’m loving the idea!
Happy Wednesday, we’re almost there! If you’ve ever read this blog you know, we ADORE solar power. Solar powered cars, houses, heck, anything that uses the power of the sun to run makes us happy and its why we at Northern Tool are trying hard to supply all of YOU with solar powered products. When we find great news about solar power, therefore, it makes our whole week. It’s only Wednesday, but consider our week made.
Why? Simple, the world’s LARGEST solar panel manufacturing plant is about to be built. Granted, it’s being built in Dubai, which is unfortunate as it then requires a great deal of energy to actually transport all of those beautiful solar panels, but nevertheless, it is being built. The fact that it’s being built means there is quite obviously a demand. According to reports, “Construction is to start in November, and is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2010. The roughly 93 000 square meter manufacturing plant, Solar Technologies FZE, will be able to produce solar panels of up to 5.7 square meters.” Yes!
The company behind the operation hopes that a plant of this size will help not only produce more solar panels, but reduce the costs as well, hopefully getting the technology into a great deal more hands, a great deal sooner. The best news of all is, you don’t have to wait to dive head first into solar technology. Head over to Northern Tool and start doing some solar shopping!
Today my friends, is officially Solar Power’s day! I love when Wednesday gives me great news, and this, is some of the best. According to new reports, a concentrated solar company named SolFocus is preparing and prepping what will be, upon completion, the world’s largest concentrated solar deployment in the entire world!
The project, to be built in Spain for EMPE Solar, will be a multi-site installment that will end up costing an enormous $103 million dollars. Once finished, the site will be a 10 MW, multi-site intstallment that should generate and provide massive amounts of solar energy. What’s more, this site will be, as mentioned, a concentrated solar site, which basically means that, “SolFocus modules use mirrors and reflective optics to concentrate the sun’s rays 500 times onto a solar cell. As a result, the systems use 1/1000 the amount of photovoltaic material typically used in PV modules.” More power, less material. Not too bad!
The project will not be finished until an estimated 2010 launch date, but all of us stuck Stateside shouldn’t worry, the same company is planning a very massive California installation sometime in the very near future. Pretty soon, massive concentrated solar energy farms might be popping up everywhere! In the meantime, you can still do your part, head over to Northern Tool and start shopping all of our amazing solar energy products! The more we do, the more we help. Why not start right now?
I’m going to just go out on a limb and say it…if they can do it, why the heck can’t we? If prison systems in this fine country, filled with some of the hardest, meanest and plain craziest people ever born can get involved with and embrace recycling programs, grow-your-own food systems and composting, then why can’t all the rest of us, who actually still Have our freedoms?! The simple answer is, we can!
I just read a pretty inspiring and awesome article about how certain prisons, namely the one from the article in Olympia, Washington, are doing more than their part in trying to “green” up the prison systems. Apparently, “Inmates of the minimum-security facility, 25 miles from Olympia, the state capital, raise bees, grow organic tomatoes and lettuce, compost 100 percent of food waste and even recycle shoe scraps that are made into playground turf.” How insanely awesome is that?!
Because prisons are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week buildings and must always be “on” it is no secret that they are Massive energy “hogs” as it were, and use a great deal of energy, resources, food and electricity to keep up. Doing this helps “give back” and reduce the already massive carbon footprint that most prisons have become. The secretary of the Washington State Department of Corrections was quoted as saying, ““It reduces cost, reduces our damaging impact on the environment, engages inmates as students…” What’s more, a prison in California that is doing similar things, uses solar panels to actually give BACK enough energy to the grid to power over 4,000 local homes. Wow.
The bottom line is, if prisons can take steps like this to help green up the environment, why can’t the rest of us? It is far easier for us to start composting, recycling and even starting some amazing gardens in our back yard. Every tiny step helps, so why don’t we All start taking a few giant leaps?
Just yesterday, I talked a great deal about Passive Solar energy and how you could, with very little time, very little money and very little effort, heat your garage a whopping 10+ degrees this winter using nothing but passive solar energy. All this talk of it, but what IS it? What it is REALLY?
Thanks to YouTube, and Modern Technology, I found an extremely interesting, and extremely fact-filled video tutorial that explains the in’s, out’s and all around’s of Passive Solar Energy. I personally had no idea just how intense, how effective, and how, well, FREE passive solar energy is. Bottom line, if you’re looking for a DIY project that can literally change your life, this might be the place to start before you jump headfirst into solar panels, solar conversion kits and outfitting your home with the help of Northern Tool.
Check out the video, then enjoy your amazing weekend!
I do not know how Winter treats you wherever you happen to be reading this fine blog, but here, it is BRUTAL. When I say brutal, I feel as though I should elaborate: We often will go 10+ days where the temperature never once peaks over 0 degrees for the HIGH; during those cold spans, there are times that with wind chill, the mercury will fall to -40 degrees below zero. The weird thing is, during those spans the skies are often bright and clear and the sun even peeks out. Hey, who said it was warm sun?
The question is, this Winter how do you harness the power of that aforementioned sun to turn it into some heat for your house or your garage?! Turns out it’s not as hard as I personally would have believed, and turns out it is actually a very Do-It-Yourself thing that you can handle! It’s called passive solar heat, and it’s entirely possible to turn that sun beating down on your cold roof into some heat to keep your garage or workspace a bit warmer during these frosty months. The plans I found on Planet Green are basically 5 steps and you should head over and check them out, but here’s basically what you’ll need to get started in materials:
“4 lengths of 2 X 4 wood
1-2 sheet(s) of plywood (any thickness)
a lot of soda cans
flat black barbecue grill paint
low energy draw fan
temperature on/off sensor
Sheet of Plexiglas (or equivalent acrylic glass)
electric drill
1″ to 1 1/2″ hole cutter for drill
2″ to 3″ hole cutter
one roll (24″ X 10′) reflective foil “double bubble” insulation
sand (optional)”
Once you have all those, check out the 5 Steps, and get started on making YOUR very own passive solar heating system for your garage, workspace or similar environment. This design can heat around 500 square feet all the way up to 10 degrees or more, depending on the existing insulation.
