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Beau's Journey » 2008 » August » 06

Archive: August 6th, 2008

August 6, 2008: Topo maps for farm


The 40 is 400′.  Top of the hill…little circle on the topo map.

 

August 6, 2008: Apartments are ours!

  Just found out that the offer has been accepted and the guy actually took a chunk off the offer because we can’t build more units on the site.  So that is amazing and respectful on his part.  He had told us that he thought we could build more.  We were willing to give him our offer as it was.  So a very nice guy and good deal. 

  We sign the contract this afternoon!  Close on September 1st!!!

 

August 7, 2008: Solar ideas…apartments

  No word on the apartments.  Maybe later today. 

  Very heavy thunderstorms moved across the northern portions of the area overnight.  Some areas received more then 5 inches of rain.  A lot of wind damage was reported in the St Louis to Evansville corider.  Several reports of winds over 70 mph were received at the National Weather Services around the region.  It appears that the Paducah area will receive storms later today and tonight.  More chances on Thursday afternoon, as well.  We are in a slight risk for severe thunderstorms.

  So, what type of solar ideas are we exploring for the farm site?  Several ideas are being floated.  I am sort of excited about the prospect.  The weather and tech geek weenie in me, I guess.

Solar Water Heaters

Solar water heaters—also called solar domestic hot water systems—can be a cost-effective way to generate hot water for your home. They can be used in any climate, and the fuel they use—sunshine—is free.

How it works:

Solar water heating systems include storage tanks and solar collectors. There are two types of solar water heating systems: active, which have circulating pumps and controls, and passive, which don’t.

Most solar water heaters require a well-insulated storage tank. Solar storage tanks have an additional outlet and inlet connected to and from the collector. In two-tank systems, the solar water heater preheats water before it enters the conventional water heater. In one-tank systems, the back-up heater is combined with the solar storage in one tank.


The solar panel would go on top of the roof (garage most 
likely)

 

SolarSheet – Heating the house

All of our SolarSheat products are designed for maximum performance. The ideal orientation should be due South on a wall for optimal performance. If you do not have a southern exposed wall, you can roof mount the SolarSheat as well. You can mount the SolarSheat in east or west orientation but it will reduce the exposure time compared to a south facing exposure. The SolarSheat 1500 and 1500G should not be mounted upside down. The SolarSheat can, however can be mounted horizontally if you don’t have the available vertical height on the wall or roof.

How it works:

The SolarSheat 1500G panel heats inside air. The amount of heat produced is based on the volume of air passing through the solar panels and the degree of sunshine. The SolarSheat is a supplemental heating system. It does not work at night. No AC electricity is required.

Wall Mount:

 

 

Solar Electricity

How Solar Cells Work:

You’ve probably seen calculators that have solar cells — calculators that never need batteries, and in some cases don’t even have an off button. As long as you have enough light, they seem to work forever. You may have seen larger solar panels — on emergency road signs or call boxes, on buoys, even in parking lots to power lights. Although these larger panels aren’t as common as solar powered calculators, they’re out there, and not that hard to spot if you know where to look. There are solar cell arrays on satellites, where they are used to power the electrical systems.

  We are not sure about wind power.  There seems to be a lot of debate on that topic.  We are still exporing ideas.  🙂  A few steps closer to going green!