Solar

Musk Wants to Electrify Puerto Rico

Submitted by WoodsDweller on Fri, 10/06/2017 - 10:28am

Just a short hit of potentially good news. After the emergency response comes the rebuilding.
Islands usually get their electricity from diesel (bunker diesel if memory serves, the cheapest and dirtiest grade) generators. Solar is a much better option, and once installed they no longer need to buy and import that fuel.
The obvious question is how to pay for it. A less obvious question is how to harden it against powerful storms. Still, it's a start.

Resilience: Options For Home Solar Water Heating

Submitted by Gerrit on Sat, 05/21/2016 - 11:01am

Resilience1.jpg
The process of converting a house to renewable energy begins with:
1. Upgrading its passive solar features, then,
2. Tightening the envelope through adding insulation, upgrading windows, and so forth.
3. The next stage is adding solar hot water heating. Heating water accounts for a quarter to a third of energy usage in a home and using solar water heating can substantially cut the energy bill.
4. Then PV.
5. And then whatever is still needed.
Let's look at three options for adding solar water heating to our homes.