solar energy

Yesterday, we met with Maverick, a guy who builds solar powered "everything" and does it as a hobby! He even has a solar powered lawn mower, and we couldn't help but ask what his house must look like :-). Anyway, we were at the Alternative Energy Meetup to learn about solar water heating, and though it was just us three, it was a greet meeting with lots of free information. The guy is an engineer who likes to build solar power projects, and the topic for the day was solar water heating.... READ MORE

Now there's an affordable and totally attainable solution! I was so happy to find that there is a way to have solar panels without spending the $25,000-30,000 for a 3 kW system. Unfortunately, we don't live in the Austin Energy service area, so we don't get to take advantage of their generous rebates AE members get (something like 75% of the costs!).... READ MORE HERE

We love spinach. It's great in omelets, in salads, in pasta ... and, now, it's also great in solid-state photosynthetic solar cell based skin. In English? A protein derived from spinach is being used to power solar cells, that are in turn powering a house—the winner of the Cradle 2 Cradle Home Competition.

The technology is stunning, as is the design.

The house also incorporates a number of other great green building practices, like gray water usage and rainwater harvesting, to name a few.

For more information on this amazing home and other Cradle to Cradle finalists, click here.

via Inhabitat

This is the true story of some strangers, picked to live in a zero-net house ... Sound familiar? No, this is not the Real World—it's not even MTV—it's mPowerHouse.

mPowerHouse, will be both an energy producing house and, eventually, a reality webcast series.

Fred and Neal Hightower, the father-son duo behind this project, are not necessarily your typical green builders. Neal describes himself as 30-year-old who builds big houses and drives a big truck; he is not, he claims, an "environmentalist."

He does, however, symbolize the exact demographic mPowerHouse is hoping to tap into: People who are a little turned off by the "e" word, but who want to do right by the environment regardless.

To top it off, at the end of the webcast series (which appears to be in production), one contestant will actually win the house.

Keep up with the goings on at mPowerHouse here.

image sxc.hu, alfonso diaz

Living at 6,300 feet, in the high desert of New Mexico, where the 24 hour temperature can vary 40 degrees or more per day and where the seasonal changes can be extreme, being a friend with the sun becomes an important component of your life.

In our small adobe home, we befriend the sun in as many ways as we can. Our home is oriented 10 degrees off of direct south, following instructions that this would give us the best solar gain. The southern side has three large double pane windows and a small two story sun room. An 18" overhang sits above all windows. Because of the sun's height in the summer, the overhang shades the home's interior. As the sun path lowers, more sun is allowed into the interior, as the overhang now provides no shading. Perfect! In the summer, you can sit in the cool shade inside the sun room. In the winter, you can snuggle up and enjoy its warmth.

Because winter nights are the time you want to "hold" the heat provided by the sun during the day, we've done a few extra things. Double-celled insular blinds are lowered as the sun lowers. And, our fabulous mud floors hold the heat and disperse it at night.

You know big things in the green building world are afoot when the Pope decides to do a little solar renovation.

According to a number of news reports, the cement roof of the Vatican's Paul VI auditorium, a 6,300-seat venue, will be replaced next year with photovoltaic cells. The cells will power the building's heating, cooling and lighting.

And it looks like other buildings in the Vatican could be getting similar upgrades in the near future.

Now, we aren't expecting zero-VOC touch ups of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling anytime soon—but, hey, we can dream, right?

Via ecorazzi.com

image sxc.hu, John Hughes

The land we live on and have built on over a period of 25 years was known as the Homestead Division of Santa Fe County. It lies southwest from the small town of Madrid which was once a thriving coal town, then a ghost town grew into a hippie haven and finally a still slightly quirky, artsy town. In 1978, the land was rezoned with a 40 acre minimum to protect water rights. It is completely raw land-no power lines, water lines, telephone lines, no county road maintenance.

It might be hard for some people to swallow this ironic bit of historic green trivia: The man who invented the incandescent light bulb—the same man who essentially launched us into this whole fossil-fuel-reliant mess—might also have been a green building/alternative energy pioneer. That's right; Thomas Edison was all about solar energy.

According to a recent article published in the New York Times Magazine, Edison might have predicted the end of oil as well as the awesome potential of the sun as an endless source of energy.

When he wasn't building the grid that we're all trying so desperately to detach ourselves from, he was drawing plans for small communities powered by nothing more than windmills and rechargeable batteries. He actually built an off-the-grid home in New Jersey that was, of course, later hooked right back onto the grid.

And our favorite new quote?

"I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy." — Thomas Edison, shortly before he passed away.

It's a short, frustrating and intriguing article—and you can read the whole thing here.

via EcoGeek

image sxc.hu, Davide Guglielmo