Editing Get Solar Gain

== Context == Nova Scotia isn't exactly sun capital of the Northern Hemisphere but it does get loads of sun, and more than enough to be useful for heating or generating electricity in combination with [[Conserve Energy|conservation]]. == Process == Kevin Jeffries, formerly of [http://www.thegreenpages.ca/portal/pe/2006/02/avalon_house.html Avalon House], has an interesting talk on conserving up to, but not past, the point of not enjoying your lifestyle. His example: if you really enjoy usinging a blow dryer each morning, and you're miserable without it - you have to use a blow dryer. But are you miserable if you switch to compact flourescents? Are you miserable if your house is so well insulated that it can be heated with $400 worth of energy per year? You can see many examples of working solar homes in Nova Scotia on the page http://solarns.ca/ ... click on the "SHIP" logo. You can surf the database geographically, or by category of system, for instance photovoltaic or hot water [[Solar Collectors]], or you can just look at pictures. Click on a picture to see all the facts for a house. == Gotchas == Most people have a vastly exaggerated idea of how much energy is available from sunlight. Do a back-of-the-envelope calculation to check your ideas. For example: : Let's mount solar panels on the roof and trunk of the car and replace the engine with an electric motor!! * Let's say the current engine (in an early Tercel) is 78Hp. This is 60kW. But you don't drive it at full throttle - let's say you can drive it at 1/3 throttle, or 20kW. It will use 20kW per hour; that is, a 1-hour drive will use 20kWh. * Now you can shop for a battery that can store 20kWh. * The [[Solar Collectors]] will get us 0.4 to 0.6kWh per square meter, per day. * Let's generously estimage the size of the hood, roof, and trunk at 2x2m each, or 12 m² total. 12 * 0.6 = 7.2kWh, the amount of energy you can collect each day. (assuming 100% efficiency of your batteries and motors.) * So, you can go for a 1-hour drive at 1/3 throttle in your extra-large-hood-and-roof Tercel, every three days. ===Alternatively=== * [http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2003/ArthurGolnik.shtml This] says that there is about 9kWh/L in gasoline * Let's generously set the efficiency of an internal combustion engine at 50% so you get 4.5kWh/L effectively. * So your oversize panel array can create almost two liters gas' worth, per day. ===The Upshot=== The upshot is, you have to learn to conserve. [[Plan B]] is to replace energy sources with renewables without making lifestyle changes. The calculations above, and any other that you care to do, show that it can't work. You can't replace more than a tiny fraction of our current energy consuption with PV, wind, or biofuel. We need to go on to [[Plan C]].

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