Comments for Green Tech Advocates

Comment on Next Up: Solar Panels from Service Providers by solar house number

solar house number — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:07:39 +0000

Hello Greentechadvocates,
Thanks for the info, Solar power offers great hope for a much brighter future with the ability to generate our own electricity from the sun, and the industry continues to make great improvements in the efficiency of solar panels. Today, there are many individuals who are including solar power in their plans for building a new home. In the event you are among them, here are some ideas to help you bring your dreams into reality.
Great Job!

Comment on 2012 the Year of Smart Appliances? by Scott Poole

Scott Poole — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:13:29 +0000

Is there really no one else that is concerned about connecting their appliances to the web? With hackers getting into banks, universities, various government “secure” sites, etc.; how long to you think it will take someone to hack an oven into turning on and running for hours (or days if you are out of town). I have even heard on factory appliance type say that the refrigerator would be able to take inventory and order what was needed. How long before someone gets a bill for thousands (or more) from the meat market? I understand the power savings aspect, but the connectivity to the web worries me greatly.

Comment on Why Green Tech? by Steven Castle

Steven Castle — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:18:47 +0000

Hi Jamey,
It’s been a general consensus among energy experts that wind, solar and other renewable energy sources will take decades to replace oil and gas for a variety of the reasons you cited, and including aggressive renewable growth projections. Solar, wind et al only produce a sliver of our current energy needs, while fossil fuels are very well entrenched. I suspect, however, that as renewable energy gains momentum, along with electric cars replacing internal combustion-only engines, that it might not take until 2050, as many predict, for oil, gas and coal to be replaced by renewable energy resources.

Comment on Why Green Tech? by Jamey K

Jamey K — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 03:27:39 +0000

Steven, You said,

“Cleaner power-generating technologies like wind and solar will help rid our reliance on fossil fuels, but it could take decades for these clean energy sources to overtake the amount of fossil fuels used to produce most of our electricity.”

I am curious if when you say “it could take decades” you mean that it could take decades because there isn’t enough money being spent to build wind and solar farms to make awesome amounts of clean energy…ie…it will take decades (at this current rate of build) to build enough farms…

Or if you mean it could take decades no matter what we do simply because the rate of electricity demand is increasing so fast?

Being a mechanical engineer who has worked on some energy projects across the world I find it alarming how little big industries like oil and gas and mining care about energy efficiency. They just don’t. It is a non issue.

But I guess that is not the biggest concern considering, like you say “Some 76 percent of our energy use is by buildings and homes, and our homes use more electricity than commercial buildings. Our buildings and homes become the most enticing targets for energy efficiency.”

Let’s just hope and pray that I invent the energy holy grail in a bottle. And we don’t pollute our earth so much that the polar ice caps completely melt….

Thanks.
Jamey

Comment on Organic PV for Consumer Electronics? by HORIZON

HORIZON — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:08:13 +0000

wonderful ideas you have here guys

Comment on Organic PV for Consumer Electronics? by Lucian

Lucian — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:55:46 +0000

I hardly wait for the time when photovoltaic pannels will be at an acceptable price for Eastern Europe too.

Comment on Conference Reveals Keen Insights in Home Energy Management by Sky Lew

Sky Lew — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 01:44:26 +0000

I believe the best way to drive popularity of energy management systems is to bundle these systems with anyone installing a Renewable Electric system. Then their curiosity in usage, savings, and earnings will really be peaked and they can better understand what those numbers really mean relative to money as they stair at their energy production numbers in KWH’s vs $’s.

Comment on A Better Rooftop Wind Turbine? by Tim

Tim — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:58:02 +0000

$8,000 is the estimated project cost for one. You would have to check with your state to see how much in rebates you would qualify for.

Comment on Is There a Mid-Market for Home Energy Management? by Charlie

Charlie — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 09:56:15 +0000

We use a system called WANDA which is a mix of X-10 products tied together with an Apple computer. It’s the absolute lowest price highest value system on the market.

Comment on Review: My First Four Months With an Energy Monitor by Stacey

Stacey — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 23:36:19 +0000

I’ve been a “meter reader” for about six years and it just left too many questions as to what was doing what. Now that I have a 4.5 KW solar system I think I just can’t resist buying one of these suckers to keep tabs not just on our consumption, but to keep any eye on my generation of electricity. Too many times we’ve looked at our usage and said “I wonder what doing that”? It would be nice if they have an app for my Droid phone too. This has been sorely needed for years and it’s great to see someone stepped up to the plate!