Have you ever had a question about renewable energy or clean power that you just couldn't find the answer to. Well now there is a place to find all that information. Submit your question, and the members of the Sietch will try there best to find you an answer. Simply email thenaib@thesietch.org
Do you have a question?
"While researching photovoltaic technology, I obtained the following statistic from a non-profit website In the next 40 minutes, the United States will receive more energy in the form of sunlight than it burns in a full year from fossil fuels. The source of this statistic was not cited on the website.
When I contacted the organization to ask for the citation, I was told that they found this information on your website, specifically here.
I have the following questions:
Where did you obtain this statistic? Please give the full citation. How old is the statistic?
Thank you very much for your kind assistance. I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Alicia E. Riegel-Kanth"
You can find the fact in the book:
Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things
by John Ryan and Alan Thein Durning.
you can also find a similar usage of the fact on the national renewable energy labs website here.
Every day, more energy falls on the U.S. than we use in an entire year. The total amount of solar energy per year falling on the conterminous 48 states is 1.37 * 1016 kW-h/year - or 46,700 Quads/year - of solar energy falling on the lower 48 states. Compare this to 94.2 Quad/year, the rate of energy consumption in the U.S.in 1997 ( Ref: Renewable Energy Annual 1998, DOE/IEA-0603(98), pg 1.)
Every day more solar energy falls to the Earth than the total amount of energy the planet's 5.9 billion inhabitants would consume in 27 years info here.
hope this helps :)
September 13 2005
From Jon
"I'm an "Alternative Energy" student at Lambton College
in Ontario, Canada, and I'm hoping to work in the developing world ( PV
installation etc.) when I'm finished. If you could find any Canadian
companies that send workers overseas, or if you have any other advice on the
subject, that would be appreciated. Thanks, Jon Weening."
Here is what I could find, hope it helps.
This
article has some background info on why renewable energy is a good fit
for the developing world.
These people might be able to point you in the right direction.
Solar Energy Society of Canada Inc. Tel: (613) 234-4151 Email: sesci@sympatico.ca Canadian Solar Industries Association Tel: (613) 736-9077 Email: cansia@magmacom.com Kortright Centre for Conservation Energy Theme Co-ordinator Tel: (905) 832-2289 Email: kcc@interlog.com Natural Resources Canada Tel: (613) 996-6220 Email: rudy.lubin@nrcan.gc.ca Ontario Hydro, Environment and Sustainable Development Division Jackie Hennessy Tel: (416) 592-8487 Email: jackie.hennessy@hydro.on.ca Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy Tel: 1 (416) 325-4000 USAID does the kind of work that you are talking about.
CREN might be able to help.
Hope this can help you out :)
June 8 2005
From Sonny
"Do you know anybody working in the LA region of California I
could learn more about renewable energy installation from?"
After doing some searching I have found these sources you might want to
contact in the LA area about learning more about renewable energy
installation. LA has a great solar resource, so most of what I could find is
solar related, but I am sure some of these people know about small scale
wind, or biodiesel or other renewable energy sources. The RE community
is usually fairly close nit.
Go Solar
http://www.solarexpert.com/Shell/LA-Installation.html#anchor135548
Siemens Solar Industries
Fred Cherrick, (805) 388-6327
Solar-Tec
Call: 949-248-9728
http://www.solar-tec.com/
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Walter Zeisl, (213) 367-1342
(213) 792-5521 cell phone
(213) 367-3227 after regular business hours
California Consumer Energy Center
list of retailers (warning BIG page takes a long time to load)
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/erprebate/retailers.html
May 24 2005
From Jesse
"Can I use solar power to light my driveway at night?"
Well Jesse, many people when presented with the idea of solar power ask "what about when the sun is out or its cloudy" and I always tell them, "that's what batteries are for". There are many companies that sell ready made solutions to this problem. Basically what they do is couple a solar panel with a battery and a powerful light (often using LED's to save power). The battery charges all day and lights your driveway all night. Real goods is a great company that sells many such products. You could also build your own pretty easy. Austin TX actually is using solar powered street lights as are several other cities. So the answer is YES you can use solar power to light your driveway at night.
Have a question? Email us at thenaib@thesietch.org