Archive for February, 2008

Abengoa Solar Builds Solar Power Generation Station in Arizona

By sblackb • Feb 26th, 2008 • Category: Alternative Energy Sources

 On Sunday I posted on the new Solana Power Generating station that is being planned for an alfalfa field in central Arizona.  Three miles of solar PT1 Trough will collect the sun’s heat energy and transform it into steam; in turn powering clean energy producing turbines.  But this is not the first trip that Abengoa [...]



Green Tags to Green Taxes

By sblackb • Feb 24th, 2008 • Category: Slightly Political, but Power Releated

While channel surfing the radio at lunch, I catch Rush Limbaugh on a rant about the silliness of solar power and how in the end the very government who encourages the use of renewable energy, will tax us for it when the coffers run low.  Now in some cases adding solar panels to your home [...]



Solana Generating Station - Solar Steam Power

By sblackb • Feb 24th, 2008 • Category: Alternative Energy Sources, Features, Slightly Political, but Power Releated

Solar Power With A new Twist
I rarely buy the local paper because their reporting is so biased and usually quite bad.  They like to use terms like “undocumented immigrant ” instead of “illegal” and “alleged terrorist” when speaking of Osama Bin Laden.  Something is alleged when we think we know who did it.  Since Osama [...]



Power Management in Windows Vista

By sblackb • Feb 18th, 2008 • Category: Energy Savings, The Energy Project

It seems like power management on the home computer is a hot topic these days, so after several questions regarding settings, I thought I’d share my whole power management plan. 
Currently I’m running Microsoft Vista Home Premium.  One of the great debates right now is why to switch from XP to Vista, but if power management is one of your goals, you [...]



Make your Computer more Eco Friendly

By sblackb • Feb 18th, 2008 • Category: Energy Savings, The Energy Project

If you’ve been reading other content on Watthackers, chances are good that you have heard of the Watts Up Pro Watt Meter and other similar devices.  If not, check out 10 Power Monitoring Devices to put Your House on a Diet and Save Power.
I’ve been busy this week, so when I got my Watts Up [...]



Can Solar Slow the Outsourcing Trend?

By sblackb • Feb 9th, 2008 • Category: Energy Savings

Last night my sister and I had a good hearted debate about the state of our country and how it seems to be spiraling out of control on so many fronts. We talked about the evils of WalMart, cheap products from China, and a Massachusetts pickle grower (Cains), that outsourced their crop production to [...]



Understanding the True Cost of Installing Solar Panels in 2008

By sblackb • Feb 2nd, 2008 • Category: Alternative Energy Sources, Features

I decided to put some numbers to what it would take to run our house on solar panels given our current energy demand. Currently our house is consuming an alarming 18,160 kilowatt hours (kWH) of power each year. Yes, we need to cut this a bunch, but let’s look at what it would take to power this house if we didn’t make any changes.