Converting Solar Energy to Electricity

Here is a brief and straightforward explanation of how the sun's energy can be converted into electricity using photovoltaic panels:



(If the video does not play or display properly above, click here to view it on YouTube.)

Hawaii Sunshine: Not just for tanning

See that solar water heater in the photo at right? We have one just like it on the roof of our present house, which was built in 1997. In all that time, we have never run out of hot water. There have been times -- such as after a spell of three rainy days in a row -- when we had to turn the hot water on all the way when we showered instead of diluting it with cold as we usually do, but those instances have been few.

Hawaii, where I happen to live, is a sunny place. Everyone knows that. So I have wondered forever why more of my neighbors don't install solar water heaters in their homes. Now that energy costs are greater than ever before, it is even more of a head scratcher that so many people in Hawaii still rely on electricity to heat water for their homes, especially since Hawaii currently has the highest electricity costs in the United States.

That situation soon will change, at least for newly constructed homes. On June 26, 2008, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle signed into law a bill that requires all new homes built after January 1, 2010, to be equipped with solar or other energy efficient hot water systems. Hawaii is the first state in the nation to pass such a law.

“This solar power legislation is another important step in our long-term plan for energy independence in Hawai‘i,” said Governor Lingle. “In addition to solar, it is critical that we continue to develop innovative energy solutions that capitalize on our natural renewable resource advantages in order to achieve our goal of having 70 percent clean energy in Hawai‘i by 2030.”

Here on the Big Island, another step was taken recently toward that clean energy goal at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) facility in Kailua-Kona, where ground was broken for a "solar power farm." The facility, near the Kona International Airport at Keahole, will be run by Hawaii-based solar power and technology company Sopogy. The solar farm will not use traditional photovoltaic panels but will instead use new concentrated solar power technology, according to an article about the project in West Hawaii Today.

"If it performs like it's performed in tests, we will be able to cut the cost of energy for people in Kona by half," said Sopogy President and CEO Darren Kimura. "As planned, it's the largest solar project in Hawaii. If we're successful, we could cover from here (NELHA) to the airport with solar panels and power Kona."

The new facility will use a technology, called MicroCSP, which was developed in Hawaii for local conditions. The technology already has been tested successfully at some Hawaii hotels.

Mr. Kimura explained that, while Hawaii gets lots of sunlight, its proximity to the ocean -- and the resulting humidity -- increases cloud cover, which limits the effectiveness of the traditional photovoltaic panels that need direct sunlight. Unlike photovoltaic panels, the MicroCSP collectors concentrate thermal energy, which is present even when there is no direct sunlight.

Traditional photovoltaic panels, which are made mostly of glass, are fragile and can break when storms or strong winds pass over them. Sopogy's MicroCSP collectors are less fragile, and are designed to flip over at night to prevent damage from wind and rain. Another feature of the MicroCSP collectors is their energy storage capability, which will enable them to provide consistent energy that will not fluctuate.

Sopogy hopes to have the new solar farm operational by the end of this year. Dare I say -- this is a bright development for Kona.

[Photo Source]

UPDATE Aug. 4, 2008: This article has been included in the 12th Carnival of Aloha, a blog carnival hosted at Homespun Honolulu. Please click on over there to see more articles about life in Hawaii.

Don't Feed the Trolls

A few days ago, I published a cartoon on this blog that spoofed the compulsive need of some internet forum participants to correct their fellows' every misapprehension. We can chuckle at those who always need to have the last word, because they exist on virtually every internet forum.

At the same time, most of us have engaged in this behavior on occasion. The urge to correct misinformation or call out a fallacious argument can be especially strong when the subject of a forum thread is something we feel very strongly about, or feel we understand in depth -- either because of personal experience, or because we have formally studied the topic in depth.

I mentioned the cartoon to fellow bloggers who participate regularly in the Discussions section at Blog Catalog, a forum that has been the scene of a number of contentious discussions in recent months. Their response was as you might think: They expressed instant appreciation of both the humor and the irony embodied in that cartoon.

One member of the Blog Catalog community took the kernel message of that cartoon and developed it further. Ender, whose Red Monkey blog is among my favorites, produced a clever derivative of the cartoon, tailoring it to the Blog Catalog group by incorporating several members' avatars into her drawings. She embedded it in a thread titled Don't Feed the Trolls - which is also the title of Ender's cartoon. I asked her if I could snag her cartoon and publish it here. That's it at right. [Click on the cartoon strip to make it enlarge.]

I didn't get around to posting this yesterday, due to a particularly demanding workday. Just now, while adding the links to this piece, I noticed that Ender posted her cartoon strip on her own blog very early this morning, along with a particularly interesting thought piece reflecting on the foibles of forum participants, and the machinations of internet trolls. Go and have a look at Ender's latest piece - Don't Feed the Trolls.

Good news for Blogspot bloggers

Here's some good news for bloggers who use the Blogger/Blogspot platform. According to a post on the Google Operating System blog, a 'Scheduled Posts' feature is in the works for blogs hosted on Blogspot.

This new feature (which has been available to Wordpress users for some time) would allow a blogger to put a future date/time on a post, using the "Post Options" function on the Blogger user interface, then click on "Publish" -- but instead of publishing immediately (as is presently the case), the post will be queued to publish at the date and time entered.

This is a very welcome feature for those of us who travel, or whose commitments sometimes intervene to make it difficult to publish posts to our blogs at specific times. When this new feature is deployed, we will be able to compose one or more posts ahead of time, and schedule the time of their publication. Publication at the pre-selected date and time will be automatic.

No word on exactly when the new scheduled posts feature will be deployed, but you can try it out by logging on to your Blogger account via Blogger in Draft.

Want to see read what bloggers think of the scheduled posts feature? I started a discussion about it on Blog Catalog. Go and have a look.

UPDATE: This post was published using the scheduled post feature on Blogger in Draft. I wrote the post last night about 12 hours before it actually published, and scheduled it for publication at 08:00 AM on February 16, 2008. As you can see, it worked. Thanks you for this useful feature, Blogger.

Pizzacono

Ever buy a slice of pizza and then struggle as it flopped as you tried to eat it while you walked? Someone has come up with a new pizza variant that would presumably end the floppy pizza slice problem. It's called "Pizzacono."

What exactly is it? According to the Pizzacono website:

Pizzacono is just what it's called: a 6-inch-tall savory cone, created from delicious flaky dough complete with a drip-free bottom. The cones come in a variety of appetizing flavors. The Cones could be filled with almost any food or dessert, enabling consumer to eat a delicious, satisfying meal while talking on the phone, driving a car, or walking down the street.

What the website didn't tell me is, where do I get a Pizzacono? Has anyone seen one yet?

[Photo Source]