Archive for July, 2007
Small, Cheap, Norwegian Electric Car
On July 31, 2007 in Uncategorized
Just found this on Slashdot.org:
A Norwegian car company plans to release a small plug-in electric car that will go on sale in Europe next year, and could hit US markets by 2009.
The company is working with Google, Tesla Motors, PG&E, and the inventor of the Segway, to produce a compact electric car that can be sold only on the Web. Hopes are to eliminate dealers, lower cost of manufacturing plants, and have ahigh-power lithium-ion battery pack that you lease, not buy (provided by Tesla Motors.)
I think this will be great if they can actually do this and manage to keep costs low. A little skeptical about leasing batteries, but I guess it’s better than having to replace them all the time ($$$$).
Seems like one could rig up some photovoltaics and charge the batteries while driving or sitting in a parking lot, without having to plug the car into an electrical socket.
One of my questions though, is will it have regenerative braking?
This part is cool:
“Because each vehicle is Internet-ready, you can text-message your vehicle to, say, check its battery charge.”
This part is even better:
”
Where’s the market for the old batteries? One answer might reside in the basement of PG&E’s corporate headquarters in downtown San Francisco. Against one wall, a nickel metal hydride battery salvaged from a wrecked Prius sits plugged into a standard utility meter. When a switch is thrown, the meter begins to spin backward as the battery feeds electricity into the grid.
PG&E plans to buy thousands of plug-in hybrid and electric car batteries that have outlived their usefulness for transportation but still retain capacity. The utility will install them in the basements of office towers and at electrical substations to store green energy produced by wind farms and solar arrays.”
Any thoughts?
Glass Solar Panels
On July 28, 2007 in Uncategorized
With the bit of cash I had left over this week from my paycheck, I bought some smaller solar panels on eBay to put together into a larger panel. They shipped out today, and are glass panels (6″x12″), not the traditional silicon wafer type.
Here is an article describing the differences
I wanted to get some of these panels to try them out. The cost is low, but they require a larger area to produce the same amount of power.
Once they arrive I’ll put together a frame for them, then wire them up and run some tests.
I also bought 4 of the “flexible” type for an idea I had the other day
Updated Cabin Plans
On July 25, 2007 in Uncategorized
Well, the comment on my last post about the cabin plans made me remember that I had a slightly updated version on my USB thumb drive. I just exported to PNG and have links for your viewing pleasure.
Solar Death Ray!!!
On July 25, 2007 in Uncategorized
For all of you mad scientists out there with a laboratory in your basement and a craving for action movie scenes, I have a link that was given to me by a friend. If “solar death rays” are your thing, then definitely check this site out.
The premise is that a bunch of mirrors (112) at specific angles concentrate the sun at a point ~5ft from the center of the “death ray.” The owner of the site made the “death ray” themself, and certainly any of you would-be comic book villains can do the same.
Try not to hurt anyone though, please. I do not condone the use of “death rays” in any way shape or form, just trying to bring free information to the people.
Cheap Solar Charge Controller
On July 18, 2007 in Uncategorized
If you are planning a solar panel setup, large or small, you will want a charge controller in the system to prevent overcharging of batteries, as well as discharge when it is dark. If you need something small and cheap, I would recommend paying $20 for one shipped to your door from this eBay seller. They are small, cheap, and chinese, but they work ok and he ships them quickly.
They are brand new, can handle 5 amps, and are only 3″x3″x2″!
I’m not related to this eBay seller in any way, but felt the product worth promotion. I purchased mine for a horse drawn buggy setup I am working on. The buggy has a battery setup to power turn signals, headlights, tail lights, and a dome light. I was originally going to power an alternator with the buggy’s wheel, but decided we did not need anymore work for the poor horse!
photovoltaics will be going on the roof, and one of these tiny little cheapo chinese charge controllers will be going next to the battery box.
This driveway is LONG! (bonus cute dog pictures)
On July 18, 2007 in Uncategorized
Yesterday (Tuesday) I went and put another two loads of fill on the driveway. This sucker is long!. That picture shows the driveway from the top of the hill after entering the woods from the field and turning to the right (roughly half the length?)
The building site is down at the very end that you can see.The heat was almost unbearable again though so the dog decided to find a cool spot to lie down. I wasn’t so lucky.
I did make a cool ant colony (unbeknownst to me) when I was loading the truck up the last time though! Bonus shot of the truck while the girlfriend and I picked some raspberries (break). Here is the part I was leveling out at the time, with a shot looking out towards the road.
There is little work left to be done on the driveway, aside from breaking off this rock that the dog and Sienna are standing next to, and putting about a pickup load of dirt in there to level it out a bit. From there I will spread gravel on it all and call it “good enough for government work.”
Gravel should be commencing mid next week and then we can start on the foundation of the cabin! I’ve been amassing solar system parts, so stay tuned everybody.
