Steve Michel's Journal of Lateral Modernism********************** Vol. VII No.6 June 2007
This months's theme:Maximizing solar potential.
Slash Your Bills With Solar Thermal Panels
by Graham Hall
With almost daily reminders of the effects global warming is having on the earth it seems we are living a doomsday scenario and that our quality of life will diminish, either due to the effects of climate change or the measures put in place to combat it.
In the UK we are at the mercy of those in power who promise to save the earth on the one hand (despite us being a tiny nation) and then having to think of ways to meet the targets they set for carbon emissions etc.
One of the easiest targets is the motorist, who has to pay tax to own a car, tax to park it (what else is a parking meter but a local tax generator) and two lots of tax to put fuel in it. In some areas we are charged to enter a zone or pay tolls to use certain roads and with global positioning systems the prospect of being charged per mile looms large. Insurance companies will use it to adjust their pricing model (and increase profits no doubt).
Homeowners are another easy target, with annual council tax bills always rising well ahead of inflation. Today I heard that central government is set to approve "chip & bin" for our domestic waste disposal, allowing councils to charge residents by the weight of rubbish collected. The one thing you can be sure of is that it will cost the homeowner more. I fully endorse the principal of reduced waste, and more efficient use of energy and with world oil supplies set to diminish at the same time demand grows, it is paramount that we look towards reducing our energy costs and usage where possible.
What if there was a way to reduce your energy bill every month and cut your carbon emissions; a way to lower your expenditure on a necessary resource and help save the planet.
I am pleased to inform you there is a very simple way to achieve this remarkable feat; a way that is already being used by 50% of homeowners throughout Germany and many other European countries.
By fitting a solar thermal hot water system to your house you can cut your costly energy use and reduce your carbon emissions at a stroke. Think about it. You will be using daylight to provide 70% of your annual domestic hot water and cutting your CO2 by up to 1 tonne a year.
The best bit is that it's free energy and no future government can ever tax it. In fact, due to the commitments made by the current government, they positively encourage it as a way to help them meet the targets they have set themselves. For a very modest outlay you can reduce your total dependence on the fossil fuel industries and save yourself huge sums of money in the longer term. These systems can even be self-funding if you use the unspent energy money to pay for them.
About the Author
Graham has worked in energy related industries for 30 years and now runs a website dedicated to educating homeowners and businesses to the benefits of "going solar". Solar Energy is Free Energy. Solar Energy is Zero Carbon Energy. http://www.solarism.co.uk
China Jumps Into The Solar Industry
by Rick Chapo
China is growing economically in leaps and bounds, which means it needs energy. Jumping into the solar power industry, it is both producing systems cheaply and using them.
The solar panel industry in China shows promise of huge expansion. China's solar panel industry has steadily shown 25 percent growth in the number of products exported over the past ten years, and this shows no sign of slowing down. Because of its low-cost manufacturing capabilities and the fact that demand for solar power within China itself is beginning to grow, the industry within China has great potential.
Both crystalline and amorphous solar panels are produced in China. The crystalline panels make up 90 percent of China's total output. Amorphous panels are relatively new, but are growing in production because they cost less to make than the crystalline panels.
China has an enormous amount of manufacturing capability coming up in the next few years. This manufacturing is lower cost than other places for several reasons, including the fact that Chinese workers make an average of $200 per month, and all of the items necessary for making solar panels are now available domestically, with production of those growing as well. Additionally, the cost of doing business in China is much lower. They pay less administrative costs, research and development, peripheral costs, etc, than more developed countries. The machinery necessary for manufacturing solar panels is also being developed domestically, providing much less expensive equipment than could be gotten overseas. Because labor costs are so low, the Chinese assembly lines tend to be much more labor intensive with fewer machines.
The bottleneck in China's solar panel production is the same as everywhere else- polysilicon. Although domestic production is growing it will not be enough to address future needs of the solar industry. Chinese producers use a combination of scrap and virgin polysilicon for solar cell production, which lowers cost. Low labor costs allow the viability of hand sorting of silicon wafers that are broken or recycled. Chinese firms are stockpiling polysilicon now to ensure lower costs as polysilicon prices keep increasing.
The Chinese government initiated programs extensively increase the amount of solar power used in the country, which will probably only benefit domestic suppliers and those foreign countries that are allied with them. The government intends to bring power to extreme rural areas, which are currently off the grid, with renewable energy systems. Areas of China such as Western China are ideal for solar power as it averages 9 to 11 hours of sun per day. Investment in the Chinese solar panel industry is a hot ticket.
Rick Chapo is with SolarCompanies.com - learn more about solar panels.
Ecotourism in Haiti
Published by TiCam
05-26-07
Malgre la deforestation et l'erosion du sol, il existe de nombreux sites naturels d'interet. En voyage a la Foret des Pins et dans les principaux parcs naturels d'Haïti : le Parc National "La Visite" au morne la Selle, le parc National de Macaya au massif de la Hotte et le Parc national Historique, vous pourrez decouvrir une faune et une flore originales. Des sommets de certaines montagnes comme le Pic Macaya, le regard plonge, emerveille, sur des plaines a la vegetation luxuriante et tropicale, tandis que Boutilliers offre une vue panoramique de la capitale, Port-au-Prince. Au cours d'excursions, il est possible de se rafraichir dans les gigantesques chutes d'eau. telles, la chute de Saut d'eau et celle du Parc la Visite. Le Sud du pays cache un autre joyau : le site naturel du Bassin Bleu.
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