#1 Charge Your Electronics
Never has it been easier to use the sun to feed your smart phone habit. iPads, iPhones, smart phones are not exactly green devices as they use a lot of power so lose the guilt and try out a solar charger. Never has it been easier check out that solar backpack. Example of a solar cell phone charger.

#2 Solar Lights
Both indoors and outdoors solar lights are a great way to keep your home lighted and welcoming without racking up a big energy bill. Remember you can put solar lights in places where there is no electricity so instead of tackling a wiring project you can put in a solar light and save money in the process.

#3 Solar Water Heater
Without starting a complete solar power system you install solar powered water heater to produce the hot water for your home. Because it doesn’t have the high cost of a complete solar system you can enjoy the financial benefits of your investment much quicker. Look into either single tank system or two tank system and start reducing your utility bills.

This will help you in many ways, first solar professionals will help you optimize your panel position relative to the sun so you maximize the energy your panels produce. Furthermore, you will avoid any pitfalls and likely complications that you will inevitably run into as an amateur installer. In addition, having a professional deal with the the then necessary permits and paperwork will pay for itself, professionals can even aid in getting financing and walk you through all the rebates and incentives and make sure your solar project qualifies.

#2 Consider Financing or Leasing

Solar projects are a major investment so it’s important to understand all the options you have available to you as most solar installations cost over $10,000 even considering incentives. This can help you reduce the initial start up cost and let you benefit from solar power earlier you may have thought. A solar professional would be a good source of information to get your options in regards to financing and leasing.

#3 Do The Math

Understanding what you can make with an investment in solar power is not a simple process and a simple calculation will not do the trick. How much sunlight your solar panels will get is something a solar professional will be able to calculate upon visiting your home. Having a good understanding of the costs and savings associated with solar power should give you the confidence to move forward when everything lines up!

Wagan Tech inc has come out with a range of very conveniently sized (pocket-able) solar chargers for consumer electronics. They will charge batteries, iPods, digital cameras etc, all from the sun. The units themselves are very lightweight and come in two distinct types.

Wagan Solar e Power Charger

The Solar e Power unit will also charge 4 AA or AAA batteries, which could be handy as it can also use those same batteries to power or charge anything you plug into it.

There is a selector switch on the back that allows you to switch between three modes:

• Power from car (12V) or solar
• Power from battery (the 4 AA’s or AAA’s that you charged up)
• Charge Battery (Charge the aforementioned AA’s or AAA’s)

Also the charger will handle either NiCD or NiMH. Power from the device is delivered through either a 5V plug on the side (there are multiple connectors included) or via a USB outlet. Wagan Techs’ Solar e Power Charger sells for $49.95.

Wagan Solar e Power II Charger

The next model up is the creatively named Solar e Power II, which has a little more solar surface area (each solar panel measures about 7” across). The Solar e Power II also comes with its own 2000 mAh Li-ion internal battery. This allows you to charge the unit up in the sun and then close it up and use it as a normal external power source.

It comes with 5 adapters for your phones and devices, the standard USB sizes (micro, mini) as well as more specialized ones for iPods and the like. Also included in the pack is a car and AC power supply for non solar charging.

The unit itself has a couple of USB outputs and the 5v phone charging port. Also it has a small LED flashlight on one end.

As a whole the Solar e Power II seems to be fairly sturdily constructed and fairly functional, it pays to read the instructions as there are a few different indicators that you need to be familiar with.
The Solar e Power II from Wagan Tech sells for $89.95

The Address regarding Renewable Energy

Thoughts on the issue

After watching the Address on Wednesday 27, 2010 Streamed live on my iPhone via a handy official app called The White House I had better sense of where the country was heading. The majority of the issues had a positive overtone and reasonable solutions; all though, the company present at the Address seemed to have mixed emotions.

One particular issue struck a accord with BatteriesInAFlash. The comprehensive Energy and Climate Bill which would essentially reward people and companies for switching to alternative energies. Passed in 2009 by the House, The Energy and Climate Bill would give incentives that will make clean energy the profitable path of energy. It not only goes on to reward for the use of Renewable Energy but will also create jobs in America for the expansion and production of own resource at home.

This is the movement that we are long over due for The United States. Many countries are already ahead of us by creating, using and implementing clean and renewable energy in there everyday lives. To clarify my statement, yes The United States is ranked #1 for Renewable Energy; however, there are countries like Germany and Finland that are including solar, wind and geothermal into there buildings architecture to make a seamless integration of Renewable Energy. I hope, that although the speech was energetic and inspiring, that he holds true to his convictions.

Why you need to water your batteries.

The lead acid battery has been around for well over a hundred years, but it still remains the most commonly used and best suited battery for a variety of applications.  Though it’s an old (the oldest) chemistry it is finding wide usage in the field of renewable energy, batteries of the newer chemistry types such as lithium, Ni-MH etc  would cost a fortune to produce in the size and volume needed for RE applications.  Also lead acid batteries respond well to Deep Cycle uses and can recover well from a much lower charge than some other chemistry types.

During the process of recharging the batteries some of the water inside the batteries is broken down into its component Hydrogen and Oxygen elements and escapes the battery (this is why banks of lead acid batteries need ventilated areas).  Sulfuric acid isn’t lost in this process, just pure water.  This is why you need to water your batteries, the pure water needs to be refilled to maintain the chemical balance and also to keep the acid solution inside the battery at the right level.

Why use a watering system?

Filling a large bank (or multiple banks) of batteries can be a time consuming and somewhat dangerous process.  For larger applications you have to open, recap and fill each battery individually which can be time consuming when done over multiple banks.  Also as you are exposing yourself to raw battery acid, often in somewhat awkward positions there is the potential for overfilling or splashing of battery acid.

The HydroLink system takes care of this by allowing you to fill multiple batteries at once from a single water source.  The HydroLink System consists of the HydroLink unit which clips onto the top of your Trojan battery replacing the 3 filling caps, tubing and an end cap.  Installation of the hydrolink unit is simple, just remove the three plugs from on top of the battery and clip in the unit.  Once the unit is in place you clip on the tubing and attach it to a water source.

The tubing comes in two different models, the Snake model and the Clampless model. The clampless tubing can be cut to length whereas the Snake tubing has attachments at predetermined distances along its length. The way you attach your tubing will depend on the type and configuration of batteries that you are watering.

Water Supply

The HydroLink system can make use of three different types of water supplies:

• Deionizer – removes impurities from tap water before it enters the battery.
• Hand pump- one end connects to the system with the other end in a gallon of distilled water. The pump becomes hard when no more water is needed.
• Regulated hose supply – inexpensive option, attach it to any garden hose style bib connector.

The Trojan HydroLink system also has a non mechanical indicator that will show you when your batteries need to be watered. The indicator is simple to read, white indicates the battery needs watering and black means that all is well. The HydroLink indicator will not give a false reading like some products that use mechanical readers.

Availability

BatteriesInAFlash.com provides the Trojan Hydrolink battery watering system in a variety of configurations from 12v to 48v as well as kits for popular golf car models.

For more information Trojan has put together a short slide show on the HydroLink System which is well worth checking out.  Also you can download the Installation guides for the two system types below:

Trojan HydroLink installation guide – Snake Tubing
Trojan Hydrolink installation guide – Clampless Tubing

The applications for this range from RFID tags for Identification and tracking through to clothing with circuitry embedded in it. But as the ability to print the circuitry comes ever closer, what will be powering your socks in the coming years?

Blue Spark – Ultra Thin Printed Batteries

Blue Spark Technologies produce printed carbon-zinc batteries, which are small, environmentally friendly and most importantly cheap enough to produce to make them viable. These batteries are also incredibly thin; their standard battery is 750 microns thick (that’s 0.75 of a mm), while their Ultra-Thin series of batteries can go as slim as 500 microns.

The applications for a power source of this nature are boundless, at the moment they’re being used in a lot of RF applications, including one card being used by Sealed Air Corp that monitors and stores temperature data to ensure that food has been produced and stored properly.

As he says in this CNBC Interview Blue Spark Technologies CEO Gary Johnson can see applications for this such as hi tech patient bracelets with stored records, subway or bus passes that display their credit remaining and loyalty cards that track customer information painlessly.

Along with the potential for manifold uses there is the point that these batteries are fairly harmless in the environment. They contain none of the chemicals normally associated with batteries, no mercury or lithium etc. The carbon-zinc chemistry meets all the EU restrictions on hazardous substances and can be safely disposed of.

Konarka – Portable Solar Charging

Ever wanted to have your laptop bag charge your laptop while you went to work? Konarka is working on just such a thing, they produce light weight flexible “Power Plastic” that they hope will become popular as a way to charge up and power personal devices from sunlight.

They envision applications such as a shade umbrella that will power a cooler or a mat that you unroll to charge your cell phones or laptops. Already Neuber a German company is planning to make use of the technology to produce their Energy Sun-bag.

Go Green, Save Green

With rising fuel prices, the cost of energy skyrocketing, and our current economic crisis, more and more people are turning to alternative sources of affordable energy. Solar energy is quickly becoming the country’s most prevalent source of power, not only for its efficiency, but also because it is eco-friendly. Through the use of solar panels, the sun’s energy can be harnessed to provide power for a variety of applications – everything from powering your television while camping to powering an entire home.

Ok….So How’s It Work?

The process of how solar panels work can be quite technical, but basically, solar panels capture and store energy produced by sunlight through the use of Photovoltaic cells (photo = light, voltaic = electricity). Depending on your needs, the energy collected from sunlight can be used to charge a lead acid battery for later usage, as a backup source of electrical power, or the energy can be transferred directly into a home for immediate use through an inverter. The inverter converts the direct current (DC) produced by the sun’s energy to alternating current (AC), which is the type of electrical power used by power companies. The AC current travels from the inverter to the breaker box and can then be used as needed throughout the home.

What Can I Power With It?

There is a wide array of users who can benefit from implementing a solar power kit. Owners of RVs, boats, and electric scooters, for example, can connect solar panel kits to any rechargeable lead acid battery, which allows for continuous recharging of the battery during daylight hours. This provides greater security in knowing that there will always be a source of power available. Businesses can benefit tremendously as well by using solar panels to collect and store energy during the day and using that power at night. Depending on how large the solar power system, businesses can use that energy to power up their entire building or simply to light up their signs.

I Bet It’s Expensive, huh?

For those looking to invest in a complete home solar power system, the average cost of installation is between $40,000 and $50,000 before any tax incentives or rebates from power companies are applied. Although many people may be turned off by the upfront cost of installing solar power systems, the government has taken great strides in making solar power more affordable for consumers. For instance, new federal tax credits go into effect January 1, 2009, raising the cap of residential rebates from $2,000 to $10,800. In addition, a typical residential solar electric system can pay for itself in just 8-12 years, not to mention, having a solar power system adds value to the home. Other incentives for installing solar power kits are offered by state governments and vary by state. For more information, please visit www.dsireusa.org.

It’s Getting Easier Bein’ Green

Powering your home and applications with solar energy is a fantastic way to contribute to the reduction of pollution and save money at the same time! For those who live in remote areas or participate in outdoor recreational activities, like camping or boating, solar power kits also provide a secure electricity supply. With increased fiscal support from the federal government and local power companies through tax credits and rebates, investing in a solar power kit is becoming much more affordable for everyone from the simple hobbyist to huge corporations who want to save on their electricity bills.