Without trying to sound like the stingy character in the Charles Dickens novel most people can relate to the need to reduce our energy costs, especially those with teenagers addicted to the latest gadgets and being born without the ability to switch a light off when leaving a room.
With the almost constant rise in energy prices the vast majority of us in the UK are starting to question even switching on an electric light until it’s really dark, either that or we spend our entire day following the kids around the house switching things off all the time trying not to say “Bah Humbug”
Quick Ways to Save on Energy Bills
Remove all the bulbs from the light fittings and use the candles that are at the bottom of the kitchen draw left over from a birthday cake 10 years earlier. Okay maybe a little extreme and I’m not sure I could sleep very well knowing the kids are walking around the house with lit candles.
A safer option If you’ve not already done so is to swap all your light bulbs for the low energy counterparts, low energy light bulbs when they first came on the market where a little pricey but today even the spot light type GU10 and similar have come down to an acceptable price, shop around though as prices vary wildly. If you really want to cut down further then consider the light fittings themselves, do you need 5 bulbs in your living room, even though they all might only be 5 watts individually the total adds up to 25 watts, this could be reduced if you only had one 5 watt bulb, so either change the light fitting or remove a couple of bulbs from the lamp.
If you have an open fire then burning your kitchen packaging waste rather than buying logs or coal is a thought, the amount of heat may not be much though and many people either don’t have open fires or if they do they live in an area restricting the smoke output.
Put an extra layer of clothing on, this could be a jumper or a base layer, ladies can put tights on whilst the men could do the same a set of thermals might be seen as slightly more manly, but who’s going to know, your secret is safe with us!
Keeping doors and windows shut helps a great deal, costs nothing (Scrooge would approve) once a room is warm the last thing you want to do is let the heat escape through an open window, doors on the other hand are a little more tricky as teenagers do struggle with these, closing doors seems to be beyond comprehension, even after spending time training your teenagers they still cannot soak in the complexities of closing a door, what do they teach at school these days?
Is there a Solution to Cheap Energy Bills?
Yes and no, wrap up warm and eat cold food, remove all electrical gadgets from your house, these are all choices that could be made, doubtful as they may sound, for some people they are already heading this way. There is an alternative solution for long term low energy bills in the way of solar energy, here in the UK the government has pledged to buy back any energy you produce for the next 25 years at the current rate of 41.3p per Kw. Whilst initial setup costs of installing Solar energy systems for your home are never going to be cheap this government backed “Feed in Tariff” really does make it a long term investment worth considering.
Energy Efficient Homes
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
New solar product captures up to 95 percent of light energy
Efficiency is a problem with today's solar panels; they only collect about 20 percent of available light. Now, a University of Missouri engineer has developed a flexible solar sheet that captures more than 90 percent of available light, and he plans to make prototypes available to consumers within the next five years.
Patrick Pinhero, an associate professor in the MU Chemical Engineering Department, says energy generated using traditional photovoltaic (PV) methods of solar collection is inefficient and neglects much of the available solar electromagnetic (sunlight) spectrum. The device his team has developed – essentially a thin, moldable sheet of small antennas called nantenna – can harvest the heat from industrial processes and convert it into usable electricity. Their ambition is to extend this concept to a direct solar facing nantenna device capable of collecting solar irradiation in the near infrared and optical regions of the solar spectrum.
Working with his former team at the Idaho National Laboratory and Garrett Moddel, an electrical engineering professor at the University of Colorado, Pinhero and his team have now developed a way to extract electricity from the collected heat and sunlight using special high-speed electrical circuitry. This team also partners with Dennis Slafer of MicroContinuum, Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., to immediately port laboratory bench-scale technologies into manufacturable devices that can be inexpensively mass-produced.
"Our overall goal is to collect and utilize as much solar energy as is theoretically possible and bring it to the commercial market in an inexpensive package that is accessible to everyone," Pinhero said. "If successful, this product will put us orders of magnitudes ahead of the current solar energy technologies we have available to us today."
As part of a rollout plan, the team is securing funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and private investors. The second phase features an energy-harvesting device for existing industrial infrastructure, including heat-process factories and solar farms.
Within five years, the research team believes they will have a product that complements conventional PV solar panels. Because it's a flexible film, Pinhero believes it could be incorporated into roof shingle products, or be custom-made to power vehicles.
Once the funding is secure, Pinhero envisions several commercial product spin-offs, including infrared (IR) detection. These include improved contraband-identifying products for airports and the military, optical computing, and infrared line-of-sight telecommunications.
A study on the design and manufacturing process was published in the Journal of Solar Energy Engineering
Source: University of Missouri-Columbia
Patrick Pinhero, an associate professor in the MU Chemical Engineering Department, says energy generated using traditional photovoltaic (PV) methods of solar collection is inefficient and neglects much of the available solar electromagnetic (sunlight) spectrum. The device his team has developed – essentially a thin, moldable sheet of small antennas called nantenna – can harvest the heat from industrial processes and convert it into usable electricity. Their ambition is to extend this concept to a direct solar facing nantenna device capable of collecting solar irradiation in the near infrared and optical regions of the solar spectrum.
Working with his former team at the Idaho National Laboratory and Garrett Moddel, an electrical engineering professor at the University of Colorado, Pinhero and his team have now developed a way to extract electricity from the collected heat and sunlight using special high-speed electrical circuitry. This team also partners with Dennis Slafer of MicroContinuum, Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., to immediately port laboratory bench-scale technologies into manufacturable devices that can be inexpensively mass-produced.
"Our overall goal is to collect and utilize as much solar energy as is theoretically possible and bring it to the commercial market in an inexpensive package that is accessible to everyone," Pinhero said. "If successful, this product will put us orders of magnitudes ahead of the current solar energy technologies we have available to us today."
As part of a rollout plan, the team is securing funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and private investors. The second phase features an energy-harvesting device for existing industrial infrastructure, including heat-process factories and solar farms.
Within five years, the research team believes they will have a product that complements conventional PV solar panels. Because it's a flexible film, Pinhero believes it could be incorporated into roof shingle products, or be custom-made to power vehicles.
Once the funding is secure, Pinhero envisions several commercial product spin-offs, including infrared (IR) detection. These include improved contraband-identifying products for airports and the military, optical computing, and infrared line-of-sight telecommunications.
A study on the design and manufacturing process was published in the Journal of Solar Energy Engineering
Source: University of Missouri-Columbia
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Testimonials
Elvin @ Lincolnshire
‘I would like to Thank Cawoods for the very relaxed, but professional and competent way they went about installing Solar Power at our home. Though we took several months to make up our minds, the Cawood team were very patient and helpful. They sourced particular mountings because of the unusual nature of our building and were able to install the system in a day. We are pleased with the result and enjoyed the experience. ’
Newby @ Rutland
‘Many thanks to all your staff who installed and commissioned my large solar PV system. Although my roof offered some challenges your staff overcame all the difficulties and routed the cables through a very small loft run. Your staff were very efficient and professional at all times covering all the trades. ’
Ayres @ Rippingale
‘Am very much aware of how busy you and your team are but please pause for a moment to receive praise on a job well done! Sarah and I are delighted with our installation: we have found you and your team exceptionally prompt and reliable in meeting our requirements. In particular, your team (Ian and Tony receive notable mention!) were courteous and efficient in their communications at each stage of the system fitting and we returned home from work to be greeted by a system, seemingly operative, with no mess/rubbish left on site.’
‘I would like to Thank Cawoods for the very relaxed, but professional and competent way they went about installing Solar Power at our home. Though we took several months to make up our minds, the Cawood team were very patient and helpful. They sourced particular mountings because of the unusual nature of our building and were able to install the system in a day. We are pleased with the result and enjoyed the experience. ’
Newby @ Rutland
‘Many thanks to all your staff who installed and commissioned my large solar PV system. Although my roof offered some challenges your staff overcame all the difficulties and routed the cables through a very small loft run. Your staff were very efficient and professional at all times covering all the trades. ’
Ayres @ Rippingale
‘Am very much aware of how busy you and your team are but please pause for a moment to receive praise on a job well done! Sarah and I are delighted with our installation: we have found you and your team exceptionally prompt and reliable in meeting our requirements. In particular, your team (Ian and Tony receive notable mention!) were courteous and efficient in their communications at each stage of the system fitting and we returned home from work to be greeted by a system, seemingly operative, with no mess/rubbish left on site.’
Where do you think Solar Energy is Heading?
Please feel free to post your views on solar energy and future advances of Solar Energy.
Whittlesey
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