Not Just A Bunch Of Hot Air

Air travel by dirigibles enjoyed a brief golden age in the early 20^th century, evoking images of giant blimps crossing the Atlantic like airborne luxury liners. (There’s an urban legend that says the Empire State Building was even originally supposed to have a refuelling station built into its top, but as fanciful as it might seem, it’s also not true). But eventually, with the mounting logistical issues inherent in flying around in giant balloons, and the very public Hindenburg accident, the era ended. Now, when we’re talking about hydrogen fuel we’re talking about an entirely different way of travelling.

Still, the image of a lighter-than-air aircraft has continued to intrigue us, even if it’s not really feasible as a mode of mass transportation. That’s why it’s intriguing to see a manned solar-powered blimp designed to fly for an hour over the English channel. It’s a year behind schedule and will only carry a single passenger, but the Nephelios is slated to make its maiden, hour-long journey from Calais to Dover within the summer. Hope they get a sunny day.

Transportation continues to account for a huge share of our country’s greenhouse gas emissions (36 per cent in 2007), so it’s no wonder that even modest attempts at emission-free vehicles of tend to stimulate our optimism. Other public projects designed to produce solar-powered vehicles in recent years have included the Solar Impulse project and its round-the-world trip, and the University of Calgary’s Schulich I solar car, one of the participants in the North American Solar Challenge.

And while it won’t sail through the air like the Nephelios, or the fish-like prototype blimps we’ve covered previously, the Physalia, a floating river purifier and environmental museum, shows that the air isn’t the only place for fantastical vehicles powered by renewable energy. Even if the golden age of the dirigible never really did launch, there’s definitely room for emission-free transportation that could prove every bit as fantastical.

Take off

Was the six-year wait worth it?  Test pilot Markys Scherdel seemed to think so. He recently kept the Solar Impulse, a solar-powered airplane, in the air for over an hour. It’s a big step towards the ultimate goal of flying this plane around the world planned for 2012.

With the wingspan of an Airbus A340, total solar cells numbering 12,000, weight of a mid-size car and average flying speed of 70 kilometers per hour, this electric-powered prototype won’t be breaking any land speed records. But that’s not stopping pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg from boldly going where no emissions-free vehicle has gone before.

A solar roof that’s working harder and smarter

Let’s face it, roofs are pretty lazy. They just lay around above us all day and night without moving an inch, and you can be sure that when winter hits won’t knock the snow off themselves. And the eavestroughs? Forget about any help with those.

Maybe that’s why a team of American scientists funded by the Department of took it upon themselves to create a bona fide “smart roof” that refracts heat during the summer and retains it during the winter.

“White” roofs are already capable of refracting sunlight, while darker roofs retain its heat. But by enabling a roof to switch between the two states at a preset temperature, researchers are hoping to create a more robust solution to so-called “passive” solar energy. Here, the change was made using a coating applied to a roof’s shingles. The developers of the coating found that they could either reduce roof temperatures by about 50 – 80 percent in warm weather, or increase roof temperatures up to 80 percent in cooler weather.

What’s more, the roof’s not just smart, it’s also responsible. Created using leftover cooking oil from fast food restaurants — a waste product that’s already being used in the production of biofuel  —  the “bio-based” material coating these new roofs wouldn’t require us to do anything more than continue to eat the fatty, fatty foods we already love.

Hey, if we’re making our roofs work harder, why shouldn’t we get to kick back a little ourselves?

Residential solar power

Solar power is difficult to do on a large, nation-wide scale.  Doesn’t that make it a perfect thing to do in your own home?

Simple Solar Heating Ltd. thinks so. Based in Okotoks, Alberta, this company makes use of solar thermal technology, which traps heat and uses photovoltaic technology to convert it to electricity. Currently, they focus on producing domestic hot water.

They believe that if one quarter of the houses in Alberta installed these panels, it would equal the power generated by a nuclear plant – at half of the cost. In sunny Alberta, this would constitute a reliable source of energy.

Solar thermal panels, once installed, require little or no maintenance, and can heat water for showers, laundry, and dishes. Even better, it can cut energy bills down by as much as 75 per cent. Even better, Simple Solar is just one of many solar companies to consider.

In BC, SolTrak modular roofing by MSR Innovations builds photovoltaic panels right into the roof. Their idea is simple.  If a homeowner needs a new roof, and wants to save on utility bills, why not combine those needs (as well as the cost) and do it all at once?

There are also government rebates available to  homeowners interested in solar power. Consider the Eco Energy Program, good for a maximum of $1,250, and a Home Retrofit incentive for up to $1,350 of relief.

If it’s cleaner, better for the environment, and cheaper in the long run – where are your panels?

Solar power growth

When it comes to solar power, Canada has some splainin’ to do.

According to the Worldwatch Institute, 2008 saw the greatest growth ever in the solar power market, but Canada is lagging.

96 per cent of the world’s solar power is generated in Europe, the U.S., Japan, and South Korea.  Canada fits into the “rest of the world” category, sharing the remaining 4 per cent. While Canada has made strides in solar, this is still striking.

So what’s going on here?  Consider Europe, which accounts for 81 per cent.  In Spain – the country with the world’s highest demand for solar power – the government requires utilities to buy solar power, at recently lowered long-term fixed rates.

In Germany – currently second-highest, but spent years in the top spot – various attempts are being made to reduce solar costs, eventually down to par with conventional methods. By comparison, in Canada funding is lacking, incentives are few, and cost is high.

While 2008 was a year of unprecedented growth, the opposite is likely to be true for 2009. Due to the economic crunch, many energy companies that previously showed an interest in growing with the solar sector are reducing their involvement, or have pulled out entirely.

However, this may just represent a great opportunity for the Canadian solar industry to catch up.

Solar power in unusual places

Harnessing solar energy requires creativity and ingenuity. Sometimes that ingenuity pops up in unusual and unexpected places.

Unusual places like on backpacks.

UniqueSolarProducts.com sells solar backpacks, among many other unusual items that make use of solar power. Wearing this bag around can capture enough energy to keep your phone, GPS, or camera charged and at the ready. Green bonus – the shell is made from recycled pop cans.

Unusual places like on pool covers.

Most solar power is used to heat water, true, but not a lot of pools actually make use of their own covers in order to heat them. Covering you pool prevents evaporation, which is where some of the heat, along with the water, is lost.

Solar pool covers not only maintain heat, but generate it. Water that passes through the pool’s filter is also passed through solar collectors, which heat the water.

And unusual places like the Yukon.

Not only was it believed to be impossibly cold for this to work, but the Yukon spends half of its year in total darkness. But bless them; Yukon Energy is making a go of it.  They see solar power as ideal for use in remote locations.

To prove it, they’ve made a functional model to tour around and demonstrate to Yukoners the potential of solar energy. Called the Solar-Hybrid Unit, It has made appearances at the Dawson Gold Show, the Commissioner’s Potlatch and the Yukon Agricultural Fair.

Designed for residential use, it can capture enough energy to run small household appliances and power tools, but does need to be recharged in the winter.

Solar Toys

Solar power: it’s not just for energy. It has countless practical – and impractical – uses.

Consider the Solar Light Cap. Better than a flashlight because you wear it on your head, the Solar Light Cap charges during the day, and can be turned on at night for as many as five hours. See six feet in front of you, and stop fumbling around in the dark.

Next time you go  camping, wouldn’t it be nice to use your tent to charge your GPS system? Solar powered tents come with LED lights installed inside, with solar panels that can be attached to the roof.

The Glastonbury Solar Tent, made by Orange, features coated solar threads woven right into the fabric. It’s able to charge batteries, there’s a floor heater, wireless Internet access, and “Glo-cation” technology – if you get lost, just text your tent, and it will light up for you.

Or, let’s say you’re the type that would rather camp in your backyard.  How about a solar-powered spinning sunflower to enhance your garden? It moves much like the wind-catching variety, only this one spins when the sunlight warms its solar panel.

Let’s not forget the kids.  Animal Planet offers three solar-powered animal toys. When fully charged the zebra, elephant and giraffe delight kids with realistic movements.  They raise their feet, turn their heads and twitch their tails.

You can even use solar gadgets to charge your other gadgets.  PowerGorilla makes a portable charger that can be plugged in and carried with you and your laptop wherever you go.  It’s also good for iPods, portable DVD players, cameras, you name it.

If you think about it, it’s kind of poetic – using solar to charge your battery-devouring toys.

Nothing says tree hugger like owning a cell phone

Helping to save the environment may be just a phone call away. 

In December 2008, mobile phone subscribers passed the 4 billion mark which, in case you were keeping track is 60% of the entire global population. This connectivity represents revolutionary changes in economic, social and political fortune. 

It also represents a lot of environmental trash.

Cell phones contain toxic chemicals which are hazardous when left in landfills. Cell phone companies which have typically been slow to tap into more eco-friendly options are now beginning to answer the call of social responsibility. With a wider range of eco-friendly options, a new niche for environmental technology and marketing is emerging. 

Take the Motorola Renew, for example. It’s made from recycled water bottles. If that conjures up images of an old-school Science Fair project, make no mistake: this technology is cutting-edge. It is the first carbon-neutral cell phone on the market. 

Sony Ericsson recently launched an environmental warranty, and a phone which is built from biodegradable parts. The GreenHeart™ has bio-plastic cases, recycled plastic keypads, zero chargers with efficient stand-by power, paper-saving online manuals and environmentally conscious packaging. 

Nokia has an energy-saving phone with a natural-light detecting sensor. Digicel is developing the first solar-powered low-cost mobile phone—ideal for parts of the world where there is limited or no access to electricity. 

With all of this new environmental technology, dialling into the environment has never been easier.

PC Solar Study: Working While Sleeping

Scientists at Harvard University and IBM are waking up to a new idea from dormant computers.  By putting a million idle computers to work, they are looking to develop a new and cheaper form of solar power.

PC users who have volunteered to participate are connected to a World Community Grid. Participants then download software which will run calculations as a screensaver program fed back to a database when the machine is in Sleep Mode. 

It is hoping that the data collected will help to gather research for humanitarian projects such as fighting cancer, AIDS and dengue fever.

Scientists also hope to discover of a new type of organic material that can be used to manufacture plastic solar cells. This technology could be used to coat windows, make backpacks or line blankets to produce electricity from the sun.

The technology to make plastic cells has already been invented but right now it is expensive and difficult to mass-produce. The plastic is cheaper and more flexible than the silicon-based cells which are currently used to turn sunlight into electricity.

So far, more than a million people have signed up for the massive network, creating one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. 

With that many volunteers, scientists are generating considerably faster results. Rather than collecting data for a laborious 22 years, the same amount of data can be gathered in just under 2 years.

Send a memo to your teenage kids: laziness has never been so useful.

Bright Calgary teen has a world to save and (solar) energy to burn

While the world groans from the weight of pressing environmental and social issues, Eden Full takes matters into her own hands. These are the hands of a Calgary teen whose energy and passion for the environment and humanity means more than learning and reading about it. It means more than talking about solutions or attending symposiums, and more than being just a small part of the solution, as so many of us do by recycling, donating to charities, eco-shopping and learning about energy conservation.

For 17-year-old Eden, it’s all about action; her passion is channeled into a full-time hobby and promising career as a solar power inventor and conductor of solutions for developing countries. “I’ve been interested in solar power since I was really young,” says the John G.Diefenbaker High student. Eden says she was attracted to solar energy particularly because of its low impact on the environment and wildlife. “Plus, solar panels look kind of cool on buildings and they have lots of applications,” she adds.

So what exactly has Eden been doing to harness the power of the sun? Try inventing a solar powered tracking system that harnesses energy from the wind to power the movement of solar panels. The goal? To bring this bountiful energy source to developing countries like Tanzania where the soil is surprisingly fertile but the farmers do not possess the refrigerating systems needed to store their crops before distribution to surrounding communities.

“What we can do is develop solar power systems that are cost effective enough to power, say, ten refrigerating systems, which would buy the farmers some time so they can distribute the food and store it for their own families before it spoils,” says Eden. So much for watching American Idol tonight then, right?

Eden has more pressing matters to attend to, like how to improve the ability of the panels to align with the shifting sun rays at different times of the day, and, of course, without using as much energy. Traditionally, solar powered devices require electricity for the motors that power the panels’ movements. “This is about creating the opportunity to use minimal energy while addressing basic needs,” Eden says.

Not surprisingly, the aspiring Princeton student believes the future for solar power is bright. But it also has its challenges. When it comes to materials engineering, there is a lot of work to do around improving the overall efficiency of solar panels, Eden adds, but we also have to come up with ways to effectively use the mechanics of the technology, to move the solar panels and to optimize their output at all times of day.

So how does a person Eden’s age acquire the finances and resources to accomplish such feats? “I get a lot of support from my parents and awards from other solar projects,” she explains, adding the biggest challenge is building a functional prototype that proves the system’s viability. Oh, and not to mention the $95,000 in scholarships including the $70,000 TD Canada Trust Scholarship for Community Leadership which also means guaranteed employment with the Canadian banking giant. Although these scholarships are not monetary awards, meaning, they can’t be used to fund her research projects, any money Eden doesn’t have to spend on schooling is money she can put towards her research. Also, in May, she participated in the National Science Fair Competition in Winnipeg where she placed silver in the Environmental Innovation Senior category and bronze in the Engineering Senior category. And this wasn’t your run-of-the-mill, baking soda volcano competition either.

“For me, the most rewarding aspect of my work, at the end of the day, is being able to tell myself that I’m having fun with what I’m doing, but that I’m also helping a lot of people,” says Eden, who believes passion is a key ingredient to success. On her own time Eden’s passions include music, as she plays violin, bass guitar, acoustic guitar and piano, and caring for her love bird. Eden has also co-founded an environmental club at her school and works with other students to acquire research grants with the goal of developing solar panels for the school.

Finally, what advice does Eden have for others, especially those her age, who are concerned about environmental issues and want to make a real difference? “I think be innovative and persevering,” says Eden. “Do what you are passionate about, even if you don’t find a solution at first. You will encounter all sorts of bumps in the road, but keep going. You will find a solution.”

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