Part of adopting renewable energy technologies is the needed improvement of the technology behind them. We’ve discussed some impressive technological advances in solar power, batteries, and even the nuclear power alternative thorium. Some of these advances are still being developed at Universities, and others are just starting to be implemented across the globe.

Though wind power is not a new technology, with the development of floating wind turbines, and the latest concept of bladeless turbines, it is becoming an increasingly attractive option in green energy. This new concept in wind power is also lending itself to the eco-friendly concept that utilizes ocean currents and waves to generate power.

This new concept would generate electricity when wind sets the stalks waiving like cattails. They would stand at 180 feet high, with a concrete base about 33- and 66- feet wide. The stalks are to be made of carbon-fiber, reinforced with a resin, and go from a foot wide at the base, to two inches at the top (where they’ll be fitted with an LED light). The stalks will generate power using material that generates a current when put under pressure (as the internal discs will compress while swaying in the wind). Even the base of the stalks serves a purpose in generating electricity as they would contain a torque generator that converts the kinetic energy from the stalk into energy using shock absorbing cylinders.

So, what are the benefits of recycling exactly?

If you ask the kids they’d tell you it was $12.58, but we should look beyond that. One of the major impacts of recycling is reducing the impact in our landfills. Just by recycling paper we’re having a great impact on our environment. Paper which is slow to break down, reportedly takes up 28 percent of the average landfill in the United States. A 2009 study from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) states that about 74 percent, or 4 Million Tons of “office type paper” was recycled that year. The problem is that paper can take anywhere from five to fifteen years to breakdown in a landfill. Not only does paper have a huge impact on our landfills, but also on our forests. By recycling our Sunday newspapers alone, we could save over 500,000 trees every week. An added bonus of using recycled materials is the reduction in energy consumption. Making paper from recycled pulp demands less energy than using new wood. Overall, Americans recycled approximately 61 million tons of “Municipal Solid Waste,” while in that same year we threw out around 132 million tons of garbage.

It’s hard to explain to younger children how much a ton actually is, and we didn’t want to take a drive out to our closest landfill, but luckily there is a sort of virtual tour with a kid friendly PDF. Included in this packet is a great list of reasons to recycle, information about different types of garbage and their lifespan, as well as information about what our landfill does to try to be eco-friendly.

We spent the rest of our day going through some of the projects listed over on Tip Junkie’s Earth Day page. The kids insisted we make earth cupcakes, while the adults enjoyed trying to figure out how to make a recycled bird feeder specifically for humming birds (we seem to get a lot of them out here). Be sure to let us know how you spent your Earth Day!

Tube lights are those long tube-shaped lights that are commonly found in places like educational institutions and retail stores. Most often, they are housed behind a screen and come in lengths from two feet in length to eight feet in length. LED Tube lights have a longer lasting life span than traditional fluorescent tube lights, help preserve energy as well as keep utility costs down, and come in two to six foot lengths.

In the kitchen of my last apartment we had fluorescent tubes, and for some reason the previous renters had decided that whenever they replace the bulbs, they would save the spent tubes in a closet. These were not compact bulbs and we seemed to have six of them to deal with. After some checking around I learned that fluorescent lights contain mercury and can’t simply be thrown away. I was finally able to recycle all of the old fluorescent tubes and eventually get them replaced with more kitchen friendly lighting.  Had the previous renters used LED Tube lights, they wouldn’t have had such a stock pile. LED Tube lights are designed to replace toxic fluorescent tube lights, are fifty percent more efficient, don’t contain any mercury, and they have a longer life span.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency classifies fluorescent lamps as hazardous waste, and recommends that they be segregated from general waste for recycling or safe disposal. LED Tube lights replace these dangerous bulbs quite well as the retrofitting and installation of LED tube lights is easy.

 Just as we’d broken down the information listed with PAR lighting last week, this week we will take a look at the information provided when purchasing LED Tube lighting. Lets take a look at this light:

2 FOOT 8W WARM WHITE FROSTED DOUBLE END POWER LED TUBE LIGHT

As you can probably tell, the LED Tube light in question is two feet in length, uses 8 watts of power, and is of the warm white temperature (between 2700-3200k). This type of lighting is typically used in schools, offices, and industrial buildings. It can also be found in bars and clubs as blacklights.

LED PAR (and R style) lights are widely used for commercial and residential illumination. This attractive line of LED PAR lights are meticulously manufactured to not only be functional enough to emit maximum light levels, but also beautiful enough to become the focus of any discussion. Because of their unique solid-state design, LED PAR lights require no warm up time, are extremely durable, require virtually no maintenance, and have a long life expectancy. LED PAR lights offer an array of color temperatures and different beam spreads. Some LED PAR lights offer dimmability, which gives you the ability to set the desired light level in any room.

If you’re not familiar with purchasing this style of lighting  that information can leave you with some questions.  Probably something along the lines of “What is PAR and R?” or “When would I want to use a PAR (or R!) lights?” or even “What’s with all of the numbers and information about the light?” (okay, these may be the questions I first had when I started learning about the different types of lighting)

So, what is PAR and R lighting and where would I want to use PAR (or R!) lights?
PAR light is short for  Parabolic Aluminized Reflector Light, a very common type of commercial lighting. They’re easiest to find outside as flood lights, or at sporting arenas, theaters, and concerts. PAR is an outside rated light bulb where R is an indoor rated light bulb. Traditionally PAR lamps produce an intense oval pool of light with an unfocused edge.

Ok, so what’s with the numbers?

So when we take a look at one of the LED PAR lights offered by Seesmart we see a lot of information. For example if we take a look at this light:

10W Warm White 60° LED PAR 30

We know that the first part is the Wattage, then the type of light produced (Warm White) and the lighting angle being 60°.  But what exactly is the number after the PAR?  This number refers to the diameter of the bulb, so a  PAR30 would have a 3-3/4″ diameter. For anyone who may not be familiar with the other numbers, wattage is a measurement of electric power. 1 Watt is equal to 0.001 kilowatts. The beam angle is the degree of width that light emanates from a light source. Think about the difference in lighting between the PAR light in the image above, and say a spot light used in a theater.

Have any additional questions about PAR lights? Be sure to leave a comment below!  If you’re not sure about what type of lighting to use in your office Seesmart will conduct a gree audit of your facility to determine what type of lighting best suits your needs!

All I can say is that these two shows were nonstop action from start to finish.  The LED revolution has truly begun in 2012!
- Seesmart Northeast Distributor, Bob Ostrander

We’re just two conferences in with at least eleven more to consider this year, and really looking forward to deciding where to send our team next. With everything going on in developing LED technology, environmentally friendly building, and the need to go green, it’s safe to say that Seesmart will be on the go all year long!

A microbial reverse dialysis test cell.

While we’re probably not going to see this technology replacing our current major energy production methods, the advancement is a substantial step in the right direction for yet another renewable energy source, perfect for developing nations and remote locations.

Though the creation and use of energy from salt water and fresh water was once limited to coastal areas, researchers at Penn State University have begun doing something very interesting. They are using a combination of microbial fuel cells (using sewage water and naturally occurring bacteria to produce electricity) and reverse  bacterial degradation of sewage water with energy extracted from a salt water and fresh-water gradient to produce power.  This combination of technologies has created a microbial reverse-electrodialysis cell.

Formerly, the production of energy from the difference of salt water and fresh water wasn’t the easiest thing to do unless it was near an ocean. This new type of fuel cell now changes things, bringing this energy to places where it was once impossible.

“We are taking two technologies, each having limitations, and putting them together,” said Bruce E. Logan, Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering. “Combined, they overcome the limitations of the individual technologies.”

This cell can be configured to produce electricity or hydrogen, making both without contributing to greenhouse gases. The test model pictured above produced 5.6 watts per square meter in testing.

Green technology is showing there is still great room for advancement. There’s a good comparison to be made between the computer industry and the renewable energy industry. As early computers were expensive, impractical, and not easily accessible to the majority of the population, so once was green energy production. Over time the technology has advanced to the point where it is embedded in the populations day to day life. Green technology itself has continued to make advancements that make it more accessible and easy to use. From the recent advances in Solar batteries to this potential new water-based battery.

We took a quick trip over to our local Radioshack and picked up a pack of 20 assorted LED light’s for about $4. I already happened to have several 2032 batteries at home, as well as eggs and an egg hollower. 

While our eggs were drying we took out the LED lights and did our best to organize them. The LED’s came in a variety of colors and sizes, we tested out two orange LED lights using a water bottle cap to hold the battery.

After we had tested all of our LED lights we began to test them in the egg to see which would produce the most interesting effect. Personally, I’m a fan of the green egg (I called it my Nuclear Egg) but we will show you each of the LED eggs we created below and let you decide which looks best.

Our next challenge will be to see what we can do to the outside of the egg to create the most interesting effect when lit up. We’ve decide to try melting crayons, painting the eggs, and wrapping the LED in paper inside the egg. We are also trying to find a large pack that contains the blue and pink colored LEDs.

Eventually, these eggs are going to be attached to a wreath and hung on our door, though they do make interesting night lights.

The city has set up a website that lists green opportunities for residents and businesses, and it looks like the information is paying off as homes and businesses in the valley are going solar at a record pace. Though the city of Santa Clarita’s Building and Safety Division issued only 86 permits in 2010, it had issued 257 in 2011. The resulting effort has seen over one megawatt of new commercial solar-generated power each year for the past two years. It is estimated that at it’s current rate the city will issue over 500 new solar permits in 2012. The city has also cut it’s energy costs by $7,500 through the use of energy efficient lighting in City Hall.

Through the City’s new website, residents and businesses can find a list of useful resources that highlight green opportunities in the city. The website also highlights new buildings that fit within the city’s green initiative. These buildings along with all new City facilities are built to a minimum LEED Silver Certification.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized mark of excellence. LEED provides building owners and operators with a framework for identifying and implementing green building design, construction, and maintenance. This framework was originally developed by the U.S Green Building Council in 2000.

The City is also a participant of the Beacon Award, which recognizes California cities and counties that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save energy, and adopt policies to address climate change. According to the City’s former Mayor Marsha McLean, the award “is an opportunity for cities to learn from each other and promote what they are doing to reduce greenhouse emissions, create sustainable programs, minimize energy consumption, and promote green living practices.”

What would you like to see your city do to show it’s support of the green initiative?

The suit used in the production of the Glowing Man video took 300 man hours. Several different concepts were floated before landing on LED lights. The LED light strips were selected as LEDs perform better in colder temperatures (the temperature on the mountain is estimated to have been around -25° C / -13° F) and the bands would work well with the required flexibility of snowboarding. The suit required almost continuous repair throughout the three day shoot, and it “was effectively worn out once its mission had been completed”  according to the filmmaker’s father who performed maintenance on the suit during the filming.

Naturally, after seeing this video we asked ourselves how hard it would be to make something like that.  With a quick internet search it seems that the cost to replicate the suit is beyond the thousand dollar range (this being based on a guess as to what materials and resources were most likely used). However, being that we are still determined Do-It-Yourself geeks who don’t have that kind of spare change, we’re going to try to cut some costs.

If you were to purchase a snow suit and work with adding LED lights yourself instead of creating a custom one, this would help reduce the number of hours it would take to create a similar suit. It will also reduce the amount of time you’ll need to spend with a sewing machine or a needle and thread.  We’re also thinking that for LED strip lighting we can try using the SMD LEDs as opposed to dome style lights. Our best estimated guess is that a similar concept suit can be created for $500, depending on the availability of resources, technical capability, and comfort in working with electronics and a sewing machine. We hope this inspires everyone to go out and see what they can create with their favorite light source.

A recent joint project between the University and REAPsystems (a lithium battery technology company) has resulted in a new type of battery that has the potential to improve efficiency in solar power, as well as reduce its cost. This study led by student Yue Wu and his supervisors Dr. Carlos Ponce de Leon, Professor Tom Markvart and Dr. John Low; looked specifically into lithium batteries as an energy storage device in solar systems.

Dr. Dennis Doerffel, founder of REAPsystems and former researcher at the University of Southampton, says; “The energy storage device – such as a battery – plays an important role in determining the energy utilization. Compared with traditional lead acid batteries, LiFePO4 batteries are more efficient, have a longer lifetime, are lighter and cost less per unit. We can see the potential of this battery being used widely in photovoltaic application, and other renewable energy systems.”

The study found that lithium batteries have an energy efficiency of about 95 percent, compared to the traditional lead acid battery that has about 80 percent efficiency. Lithium batteries are also lighter in weight and have longer life spans than lead batteries. The batteries still need to go through additional testing before they can be used in commercial solar systems; however the potential for an improved system is certainly there.

Currently one of the biggest barriers in using solar energy is cost, even with Federal Tax Credits and rebates. A system large enough to supply energy for an average home (producing about 920 kWh per month) can potentially cost up to $79,000 (depending on location and other factors). Based on my homes highest electric bill in the last year, California State rebates, and the Federal Tax Credit it would cost around $20,000 (including full installation, materials, etc.) to go completely solar.

While these numbers are certainly high, by looking at the current energy costs there’s an opportunity to save a lot of money in the long term. If we were to look into reducing the amount of energy we use in our home I’m certain that we could bring down both our current rates with Southern California Edison (currently uses a 5 tier rate system) and our potential solar costs.

As with LED technology, as solar technology grows, adapts, and becomes increasingly popular its costs will continue to come down. Also, a lot like LED lighting, while the initial investment in solar energy is a high one, it certainly pays off in the long run.