The Good Human » solar

Solar-Powered Trash Compactor

david — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:00:19 +0000

Last week when I was in Sedona, Arizona I came across a rather fancy looking trash can out behind the coffee shop I had just purchased a cup of java from. I spent a few minutes looking at it as I had never seen such a nice trash can, and then I realized what was on the top of the unit — solar panels! Once I noticed that I took some time to read the information on the can itself and found out that it was actually a solar-powered trash compactor from Waste Management. Once I got home I looked them up online and this is what WM says about the compactors:

A better way to keep public spaces clean.Ordinary municipal trash barrels often overfow. The Waste Management Solar-Powered Trash Compactor holds five times as much refuse – and signals when it’s ready for pick-up.
Vastly reduces waste collection expenses.Because it has five times greater capacity, the compactor can reduce the number of collection trips by 80%. Fewer collections mean 80% savings in fuel, labor and maintenance costs, and an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Powered by the sun. Made from recycled materials, the Waste Management Solar-Powered Trash Compactor works even in areas that don’t receive direct sunlight.
Small, but with huge capacity. About the same size as a standard 35-gallon trash barrel, the compactors have a small footprint. But, thanks to patented solar-powered compression technology, they can hold about five times as much trash.
So tech-savvy it tells you when it’s full. When a unit reaches capacity, sensors trigger an internal compactor that flattens the contents, converting 180 gallons of waste into easy-to-collect bags. A wireless system then signals that the can is ready to be picked up.

I snapped the picture below of the can so you guys could see what they looked like:

I have been a vocal critic of Waste Management and their filthy, polluting trucks in the past, but I do really appreciate what they are doing with these new trash compactor receptacles. Hopefully they catch on and we all start seeing them around our own towns. Well, that and I hope they start cleaning up their truck emissions, too.

Help support The Good Human! If you do your Amazon shopping through my Amazon link, a very modest sales commission is generated. This is true for any product at Amazon, not just the eco-friendly ones. Please keep this link in mind for all of your Amazon purchases, as when you click through one of them and do any shopping, it really helps keep The Good Human going. -> My Amazon.com Affiliate Link. Thanks!

What are the Advantages of Solar Power

david — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Scientists have estimated that the earth gets enough solar energy from the sun each hour of each day to provide our electrical needs for an entire year. That’s a lot of free energy constantly hitting our planet each and every minute of the day! While we humans have used solar power for centuries, we have only recently started figuring out how to harness, store, and distribute energy derived from solar power, the green technology for doing so efficiently increases exponentially with each new discovery. From better solar panels to stronger batteries to more efficient inverters, rapid development of solar technology means that the advantages of solar power far outweigh any disadvantages.

I have stayed in an earthship powered entirely by the sun, and you wouldn’t know you were using electricity provided by the sun and not by a coal-powered plant and the utility grid. Solar power is clean, renewable, and free for everyone on earth to access with the proper solar equipment — so let’s take a look at some of the advantages of using solar power energy.

Renewable Energy Source

Solar energy is completely renewable, as we can count on the sun to continue delivering its energy for billions of years to come. The majority of our current energy needs are met by burning fossil fuels, which are absolutely not a renewable source of energy! Once they are gone, they are gone — and then what will we do? If we are not ready to meet the energy demands of the future using renewable sources by the time fossil fuels run out, we may be in big trouble.

No Pollution

Using solar panels to power your home means that you aren’t polluting or using polluting energy sources. Most of our energy currently comes from coal-fired power plants, which are incredibly polluting and damaging to our environment. If everyone started making use of the advantages of solar energy, we could reduce pollution and dangerous emissions. Using solar power, we can even begin to slow down climate change by significantly cutting these emissions.

Low Maintenance

With zero moving parts, there is little opportunity for a solar energy setup to break down. Solar panels can silently do their work of providing clean energy on the roof or an array for decades (newer ones are guaranteed for 20 years), while batteries and inverters only need replacing every 10 years or so. Sure, panels could break from a heavy hailstorm, but how often has a storm caused a skylight in your house or your car windshield to break? Probably not too often, which would be the case for your solar panels. To keep the panels running efficiently, they only require being rinsed off once in a while to remove any dirt or dust that could be blocking the sunlight.

Dropping Costs

Yes, solar panels used to be very pricey. And yes, they can still be pricey today, especially if one doesn’t take full advantage of subsidies and tax incentives for going green provided by federal and state governments. But prices are constantly dropping, meaning solar panel installations are becoming available for more and more homeowners every year. And after the initial purchase of a solar setup, there are no more utility bills! So say you took out a equity line of credit on your home to buy yourself a solar panel set for your roof that will provided 100% of your energy needs. If it takes you 10 years to pay off that loan, every drop of energy you use after that is free for you. You are now off-grid and getting all your electricity from the sun, free of charge. Pretty cool, right?

Energy Independence

When you can make and harness your own energy, you can be independent of needing other people, various fuels, and even entire countries and the oil they provide to us. Many wars have been and will continue to be waged in the name of oil supplies; solar (and other renewable energy sources like wind, etc.) allows us to be independent of such things, including a monthly electric bill once the panels are paid off!

As far as renewable energy sources go, buying and using solar power is one of the most efficient and accessible ways that the average person can “go green” at home. Solar panels require little maintenance, do not pollute, make no noise, and prices are dropping on an almost monthly basis. It is an ideal energy source that is provided free of charge by the sun every minute of every day; all we have to do is keep working to make our capturing, storing, and distribution of this energy more efficient for it to take on a greater role in powering our planet with clean, renewable energy for years to come.

The advantages of solar power are almost unending, so let’s hope that development of this technology continues at a breakneck speed so everyone can go solar in the near future!

Photo courtesy of ricketyus

Solar-Powered, Water-Harvesting RV Park

david — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:00:50 +0000

Planning a trip in your RV to New Mexico anytime soon? If so, you may want to check out the Santa Fe Skies RV Park, a 98-site, full-service RV facility which is powered by — wait for it — solar power! A family built, owned and operated park, it sits on 17 acres overlooking New Mexico. They have recently finished installing a grid-tied 192.5 kW solar power plant, which they aim to have provide at least 60% of the park’s annual electric use. It uses 810 solar panels of 238 watts each, and the cost for the project was around $1.3 million dollars. That’s definitely a large investment in a clean-energy future, but I am sure that it will pay off in spades as utility bills climb ever higher.

The owners have also installed a water harvesting system in the park, consisting of 9 cisterns which collect rainwater coming off the solar panel array. This water is used for regularly cleaning the dirt off the panels and for watering the various plants and trees on the property. Here in the desert water is as valuable as gold, so it’s great to see a large park like this take the initiative to save what little of the wet stuff we get from the sky.

The park is located here south of Santa Fe, and if you happen to come through be sure to let me know you are in town!

Grid-Tied Solar Kits For Your Home Arrive At Costco

david — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:00:37 +0000

Think Costco is just for gigantic boxes of macaroni and cheese or 42 lb bags of rice? Think again! Costco is now selling grid-tied solar energy kits, ranging in price from $3,599.99 for an 880Watt system all the way up to $17,999.99 for a 5060Watt system. The kits are from solar provider Grape Solar, which prides itself on being made in America with the market”™s “lowest per watt pricing”, have been available over at Amazon.com for a while and have now arrived in the true mass marketplace — a warehouse store. I don”™t shop at Costco because, well, I don”™t need anything in bulk that is worth the price of admission, but if I was in the market today for solar panels I might just have to sign up for a membership.

As with most solar installations, depending on where you live these kits are eligible for federal, state and local utility rebate and incentive programs, so check DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency) to see how much you may be able to get back if you were to purchase one of these solar kits. These four are the ones currently listed on the Costco.com site:

The 880Watt kit can generate between 60kWh and 180kWh of electricity per month, power equivalent to the energy consumption of a 15 Cu Ft refrigerator. This package comes with four solar panels, micro inverters, and racking system for $3,599.99.

The 2300Watt kit can generate between 210kWh and 420kWh of electricity per month. This is about 1/3rd of the electrical power consumption of an average 1200SF home. The kit consists of ten solar panels, an inverter and a roof-top racking system for $8,999.99.

The 3680Watt kit can generate between 336kWh and 672kWh of electricity per month. This is 1/2 of the electrical power consumption of an average 1200SF home. The kit consists of 16 solar panels, an inverter and a roof-top racking system for $13,499.99.

The 5060Watt kit can generate between 462kWh and 924kWh of electricity per month. This is about 72% of the electrical power consumption of an average 1200SF home, and the kit consists of 22 solar panels, an inverter and a roof-top racking system for $17,999.99.

So if you are thinking of going solar at home and you are a member of Costco, you may want to check these out the next time you are stocking up on cases of beer or multiple gallons of milk!