Solar Car Park, Solar Trees

On April 19, 2011, in Electric Cars, Solar Power, by Elen
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solar trees

Picture Source: http://cdn.burb.tv

Here's a design that could start to appear in urban areas soon; car parks transformed into solar woodlands using solar trees.

Designer Nevile Mars came up with the idea a couple of years ago. His concept envisages a parking area for electric cars in which they can not only stay cool in the shade but where they can be recharged from power points within the trunk of each solar tree.

Each of the solar trees comprises a trunk containing the power outlets and a canopy made up of photovoltaic panels or leaves. Nevile Mars' design would automatically maneouvre to follow the sun for optimum energy absorption.

Looking at these images one wonders if the energy generated would exceed demand and therefore would generate a surplus that could be fed into the local community grid.

Goodbye sun-baked tarmac and hello shady solar grove.

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Charge Your Electric Car At Home Using PV Cell Generated Solar Energy

On April 19, 2011, in Energy Generators, Go Green, Solar Power, by Elen
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Not so long ago the idea that you could generate your own electricity using solar panels and use that power to re-charge your electric car was a daydream, but green technology is developing all the time and that daydream is fast becoming a reality.

Think of it:

  • Free electricity from the sun
  • Your electricity becomes your free fuel for your electric car
  • Free electricity for your house
  • Generate surplus electricity and sell it to a power company

Of course, there is an initial financial outlay for installing the solar panels (like a Flexi PV Cell Solar Panel Kit), but grants are available from various national and local government initiatives, and the time to pay back that sum can be greatly reduced if you switch to an electric car when the time comes for you to replace your current automobile, or when the price of oil is so high that you simply can't afford to drive any more. Then there is the additional spin-off of being able to bask in the warm glow of your vastly inflated eco credentials.

Not every home is suitable for the installation of a fully fledged solar technology system. Here are some points you'll need to consider:

  1. Do you have so unshaded roof space facing east, south or west? Although many solar panels will work using daylight alone, for generating larger quantities you'll need more direct sunlight.
  2. Is your property a listed building or in a conservation area? You may need to jump through some planning hoops to obtain the necessary permission
  3. Do you own the property or rent it? Permission needs to be given by the freeholder or the landlord.

Even if you're unable to install solar panels on the roof of your house there are other options; a sunny corner of your garden or pation for example, or on the roof of your shed or other garden structure.

So people start small with just a solar powered outdoor light while others leap in at the deep end by installing the largest system that their property can accommodate, but sooner or later you'll be bitten by the bug and thinking of how you to can harness the free energy from the sun.

Check this range of solar energy kits

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A beginner’s guide to all things green

On April 6, 2011, in Go Green, by Elen
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Green shopping is a phrase that has entered common usage to describe the changing habits of consumers who want to use their purchasing power to support eco friendly products and/or services that have been produced using sustainable manufacturing processes. Given the choice more people are choosing to buy their everyday items at their local or online eco store.

Going green then, for individuals and families, is the term used to describe the change in both shopping habits, home management, and lifestyle choices. Businesses can go green too by choosing, for example, hosting companies for their websites which use solar or other forms of sustainable energy to run their hosting centres.

Green technology means many things but at the very least it describes any innovation, tool or gadget that harnesses the energy of the sun, wind, water or the heat from the earth to drive machine or carry out a process that hitherto might have been done using a device or system that consumed more of the earth's finite resouces.

Green building describes the process of constructing buildings using sustainable materials while at the same time ensuring that the finished construction is as efficient as possible in terms of stable ambient temperature and natural light. Green buildings encourage green living

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