Solar PV Boost

Solar Panel Boost
Photovoltaic panels (PV) are very expensive. A decent panel runs between $55 and $65 dollars per square foot. Whole home systems can cost as much as $40,000 and up!Mirrors, on the other hand, are very inexpensive. You can go to Lowes and purchase mirror tiles for less than $1.50 per square foot, so an equal amount of mirror surface would cost only $1000.One of the challenges with using solar panels is the lack of light available in the winter.My suggestion is to invest less in solar panels for your home and instead place mirrors behind your array at a fraction of the cost. You will be able to dramatically increase the amount of sunlight that hits your panels in the winter . . . even above and beyond what additional panels would have collected . . . at an incredible savings.

This application would work equally well on solar water heating systems. A 50 gallon solar water heater can cost upwards of $1000 or more. Don’t you think that $50 worth of mirror (enough to double the effective collecting surface of your system), would be a worthwhile investment? Hmmmmm?

Read more on my practical ideas at www.pandscorp.org

Wind On The Roof

Rooftop Wind Energy

There are several challenges to efficiently harnessing the power of the wind. One of the biggest obstacles is the cost of transporting the power (that is generated) from the sparsely populated high wind speed areas to the densely populated areas where it is needed most. Another obstacle is the cost of building towers that will reach the heights where wind speeds are greatest. I have an idea that deals with both of these issues in a simple yet cost effective way.
First let’s look at the importance height plays in harnessing wind power . There are two points to consider. One is that wind speeds are generally higher, the further above the ground you go. Of course wind speeds vary day to day and hour to hour, but overall, the higher up you travel off the earth’s surface, the faster the wind blows. Another very important factor is that wind power increases exponentially as wind speed increases. What this means is that when wind speed is doubled, the potential available power increases 800%! Now the issue of transmission is obvious, the farther you have to transport something, the more it costs to do so.
What if we built wind turbines right in the midst of our most densely populated areas by placing them atop our tallest buildings? We would achieve our goal of getting our collection device (the windmill blades) at the higher elevations where wind speeds are greater . . . without having as much expense getting them up there. At the same time, your transmission expenses would drop to almost nothing because the power generated could be used for the very building that supported the wind turbine.
Think about it, why do they call it the “windy city” (Chicago)? And with all of those people and all of that energy consumed, it only makes sense. Chicago has almost 100 buildings that are over 300 feet tall, the ten tallest standing at over 800 feet! (nine more buildings are either under construction or planned that will exceed 800 feet, the tallest will be a stunning 2000
feet!)

Here is a cool website (Biggest Skyscrapers)where you can view sketches of all of the worlds tallest buildingas including those in the planning stages. You can make selections to sort the buildings in several ways.

For more cool ideas on maximizing resources go to www.pandscorp.org