DIY Solar Panels

Inspired by a recent article in the New York Times - African Huts far from the grid glow with renewable lights - to find small scale options for DIY solar energy at home I went looking on Ebay for the 'chinese made solar panels for $80' as mentioned in the article and came across a company called Evergreen World, who were selling what essentially amount to 'seconds' solar panel packs.

At the very bottom of the page were a couple of helpful links:

The Basics of Solar Cell

Solar Panel Construction

Youtube videos on Solar Cells Soldering
Wiring Series vs Parallel

Great Educational Links about Solar Energy from REUK
Measuring Solar Panel Power
How do Solar Panels Work
Real Simple, Real Quick USB parallel vs series + wiring 5v regulators with female usb

How much is enough?

Often asked, yet difficult to answer: How much land does one person need to sustain themselves?

Many factors come in to play such as climate, diet (vegetarian/meat eater), quality of soil, and preferred farming technique.

Over the past couple of years I have been wondering about this very same question - how much land would be enough to maintain a healthy and sustainable lifestyle? What skills might I need to learn, and what preparations might I need to make? Would a small cluster of family and friends be more appropriate, or an entirely individual approach? Is there a ratio, per head? Is it related more to land yield and local resources? The sun, the availability of water? The soil health and the ability to grow food?

The simple answer is 0.07 hectares of land per person. Based on a largely vegetarian diet, on arable land with little or no degradation, adequate water supplies and a good working knowledge of farming techniques such as planting, fertilizing and irrigating.

On small lots, the farming techniques chosen can greatly enhance and improve productivity.

Many of the techniques that comprise the biointensive method were present in the agriculture of the ancient Chinese, Greeks, Mayans, and of the Early Modern period in Europe. Alan Chadwick brought together the Biodynamic and French intensive methods, as well as his own unique approach, to form what he called the Biodynamic-French Intensive method. The method was further developed by John Jeavons and Ecology Action into a sustainable 8-step food-raising method known as "GROW BIOINTENSIVE."

John Jeavons wrote a book called 'How to grow more food than you thought possible on less land than you could imagine'. He included estimates on yield per square foot for a wide range of crops using his french intensive biodynamic approach (compost, double dig, clean cultivation, frequent irrigation etc..). His system assumes unlimited nutrient, carbon, and water inputs. He figured 1/4 acre for vegetarian diet with grains and legumes as the core and yearround vege production in central california, (USA zone 9?). The vege's don't take up much space. You could get you vitamin needs off of weeds if you had to, but 1 year of protien and complex carbos (grain and dry beans, maybe potatos) is the hurdle.

So... in short... the footprint is inversely proportional to the amount of energy/nutrient/water subsidy you can gather from your neighborhood. Contemporary permaculture designs on small sites typically takes advantage of your neighbors waste.

But if everyone is scavenging nutrients and organic matter, then the game changes. I recently read that your urine contains enough nutrients to produce a grain crop to feed one human for a year.

The biointensive method is an organic agricultural system which focuses on maximum yields from the minimum area of land, while simultaneously improving the soil. The goal of the method is long term sustainability on a closed system basis. It has also been used successfully on small scale commercial farms.

DIY solar panels

I've been keen to explore the urban myth that solar panels are currently far too expensive to install - with 'payback' time running in to years before set up costs are recuperated - plus, the commonly accepted notion that solar technology is currently insufficient enough to provide suitable power for a standard home. I wondered what the parameters were with regards the definition of 'not powerful enough' and 'standard home. Personally, I dont have a television, or an abundance of electrical appliances in my home, yet I have friends with various configurations of power need and consumption. So, I've decided to attempt the making of a solar panel and to go through the various stages of construction and integration, mostly as a learning exercise, but also in an attempt to reduce my own consumption and gain an awareness of actual power usage versus power generation! This is my attempt to 'build your own'. I'm sharing links and information as I find it, to aid any others who may want to attempt this.

This video from green power science is fairly interesting as a starter teaser, with information to follow up around the three main types of solar panels: Amorphous, Mono Crystal and Poly Crystal. Each having its own pros and cons.

The math (based on the poly crystal) which are approx 0.5 watt, so to charge a 12 volt battery, approx 36 of these panels need to be linked (soldered).

Another series of fantastic videos by mixcatcom on youtube part 1 and part 2 and part 3



More info
blocking diodes
solar cells kits in uk
tabbing tape + bus wire in uk
soldering iron

Building natural myths

While discussing living sustainably and other lifestyle choices available with a friend recently, we covered the much debated subject of how one is able to live sustainably using natural and alternative sources of energy - solar, wind, propane gas, water etc. Much of the press, and general opinion arise from the misguided viewpoint that alternative sources of energy are not advanced enough to support the average joe's lifestyle. In other words, that solar and other forms of natural energy are not at a level yet to sustain our lifestyles, and therefore shouldn't be adopted - just yet - until they are bigger and more affordable! Well, the news is, they *are* at a point of sustainability. They have been for a long while. What is debatable is the 'level' of lifestyle we are demanding of the energy source. What level of sustainability do we want to sustain?

Clearly, many individuals are living outside what is considered a sustainable lifestyle choice. Technology is advancing, yet we, the consumer, are advancing our expectations also. To slow this invent > out consume > re-invent > cycle of living, we may consider adjusting our lifestyles to meet the output of the currently available natural and alternative sources of power.

Solar myth : Solar panels are not large enough or affordable to meet our needs.

Yes, to meet our needs. So, our needs, and the planet, community, and environment might benefit from some change.

That doesnt necessarily mean building a tree house or other wholly natural buildings but it might mean learning about permaculture, getting educated about water saving devices, your power needs, community gardening, and so much more...

Bradford’s ‘wastefield’ becomes an urban garden

Original post at the culture vulture blog

A glimpse of work in progress on Bradford Urban Garden

Work started quickly to make the site safe – the big hole where the shopping centre was meant to be remains closed off with hoardings, but now they’re a nice shade of green, and Gideon is working to get local artists and schools to create images on them. He said, ‘It’s not enough to just create an empty green space, although obviously that’s an improvement. We want to make something that gives people a sense of ownership and a reason to linger – through artworks and murals, installations, sculptures and garden features – and also through activities and events, with live music, theatre and film , as well as informal gatherings, busking, partying, and so on.’

Weather permitting (i.e. if it rains enough for the grass to establish) the ‘Bradford Urban Garden’ will be open to the public from 9th July.

It will be a bit longer before art works and events take shape, though – Fabric have been given a contract to manage the space (with the support of an Advisory Group so that local creative and commmunity experts can input into plans), but need to raise money to make things happen. So, Gideon is busy talking to businesses about sponsoring artworks and activities, to schools about images for the hoardings and about a logo design competition, to arts organisations about the things they can bring and to anyone else who wants to make things happen in the space.

You can email him at gideon.seymour@creativebradford.co.uk if you’ve got an idea for something you’d like to do to turn Bradford’s former ‘wastefield’ into a creative and animated space that local people can enjoy. Or if you want to keep updated when events on site are planned, join the Bradford Urban Garden facebook group or subscribe to Fabric’s E-bulletin by emailing fabric@creativebradford.co.uk

Permaculture Principals

1. Work with Nature, Not Against It
Permaculture landscape design aims to consciously create agriculturally productive ecosystems that have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems. As such, Permaculture systems are designed to mimic natural ecosystems, and work with nature, not against it. It is a recognition that nature knows best, and understanding her ways and cooperating with them is essential.

If we throw nature out the window, she comes back in the door with a pitchfork. Masanobu Fukuoka

Working with nature reduces the reliance of the system on inputs of energy and materials thus promoting self sufficiency and sustainability. In contrast, conventional agriculture has virtually waged war on nature and so requires energy intensive and environmentally damaging inputs to maintain control and productivity.

As one example, consider weeds:

Weeds are conventionally controlled with herbicides: poisons that are expensive, climate unfriendly, and ecologically damaging.

Permaculture recognizes that weeds are nature’s way of improving conditions to favor the gradual succession of degraded landscapes to mature, productive forests.

They are ecological bandaids over otherwise bare soil to protect and feed soil life. Weeds add life energy in the form of biomass and nutrients. They provide ecology and wind protection, and restore structure to compacted soils.

We can use weeds to provide microclimate, nutrients and wind protection for the plants we want to establish while seeking to rebalance soil conditions so that weeds are no longer nature’s imperative for the site.

2. The Problem is the Solution

Everything is potentially a positive resource just waiting for us as Permaculture designers to work out HOW to use it!

Trying to impose a predefined concept of “how things should be” in your system is very expensive of energy and resources. Working to optimize benefits and yields from what you have only requires a change in the way we see things.

A Permaculture perspective allows you to recognize and harness the assets all around, so that they become solutions rather than problems.

For example, a strong cold wind can be funneled to a wind power generator or directed into a house to chill food.

You don’t have a snail problem, but a duck deficiency!

3. Make the Smallest Change for Greatest Possible Effect

For example, when choosing a dam site, select the area where you get the most water for the least amount of earth moved.

4. The Yield of a System is Theoretically Unlimited

The greatest determinant of system yield is the creativity and resourcefulness of the designer!

Even when you think you have fully optimized a Permaculture system another innovative designer might see opportunities to add more productive elements or recognize useful yields you overlooked.

For example, a shed roof can be utilized as space to grow pumpkins; flies can be trapped as food for fish; damaged fruit can provide a marketable seed resource…

5. Everything Gardens

Every living thing interacts with and impacts its environment. In natural systems, the impacts of one species create the ideal conditions for many others.

Through careful observation such impacts can be harnessed to provide suitable habitats for supporting desirable elements in your Permaculture system.

For example, rabbits make burrows and defecation mounds, scratch for roots, keep grasslands trimmed short, and create favorable soil conditions for weeds such as thistles.

The burrows can form habitat and shelter for native animals, the lawn trimming action used as an aid to fire protection, and the soil conditions utilized to grow edible thistles such as globa artichokes.

Decisions regarding control, management or toleration of system elements therefore need to first carefully consider their “gardening” impacts and how these might be utilized to create useful system yields.

6. Wise Resource Use

Throughout human history, failure to use resources wisely has been a consistent cause of collapse of civilizations.

“The key principle to wise resource use is the principle of “enough”. Today’s luxuries are tomorrow’s disasters.”

recycling and lifestyle and sustainabilityBill Mollison

To be sustainable, sane people and their societies must therefore:

1. Use resources efficiently, thus reducing waste and hence pollution.

2. Oppose the usage of any resource that leads to pollution or destruction of sustainable resources. Such resources include pollutants, persistent biocides and other poisons, radioactives, ocean outfall sewers and large areas of concrete and highways.

3. Only use resources that are either increased by modest use (e.g. regular grazing of fodder shrubs maintains production of fresh, palatable fodder), unaffected by use (e.g. sunlight, wind, rocks, rainfall), or degrade if not used (e.g. ripe fruit, annual crops, grasshopper swarms and roof water runoff during rain).

4. Non-renewable resources are reduced by use (e.g. oil, coal, mature forests, clay deposits). These should only be used if such use results in a proportionally greater, relatively permanent and sustainable improvement in ecosystem yield (e.g. construction of a dam or home).

Permaculture Yield

In Permaculture landscape design, the designer’s objective is to store, direct, conserve, and convert to useful forms any energies that exist on or pass through the site.

This is basic to self sufficiency and sustainability and is achieved by analysis of energy ZONES and SECTORS. Once the needs of the system have been met for growth, reproduction and maintenance, the surplus energy usefully stored is the system yield.

The only sustainable way to capture energy flowing through a site and usefully store system yield is in the form of life. While batteries expire and leak, heat escapes or insulation breaks down, living things like forests increase their energy store in the form of reproduction and growing biomass.

So it is the sum and capacity of life forms that determine total system yield and surplus… you could say its LIFE ENERGY!

Theoretically there is no limit to yield

There is always room for another innovation to increase the number of life forms or the productivity of the existing elements in the system.

Here are a few examples of Permaculture strategies we can use on small farms to boost yields:

• Increase water storage (ideally 12-20% of landscape) and usage in your landscape

• Utilize strategic land forming to conserve and optimize soil and water resources

• Recondition and fertilize your soils so they reach their productive potential

• Establish windbreak and forage forests (ideally 20-30% of landscape)

• Establish wildlife corridors

• Value add through strategic processing and marketing

• Formation of community and financial cooperatives

• Low tillage cropping to save soil, energy, moisture and growing time

• Crop diversification strategies such as different species, genetically selected varieties, ripening-times, growing microclimates, trading relationships and forms of yield storage and preservation

• Overcoming cultural barriers to yield utilization such as irrational reluctance to keep poultry to make productive use of waste, slaughter excess stock for meat, or eat snails

• Reduce competition by non-beneficial species

• Better integrated and strategic crop timing, harvest and utilization

• Increase the number of beneficial connections between elements (life forms, structures, etc) within the system, so that the products, behaviors and wastes of one can be utilized to create yield by others.

• Encourage natural cycles. Life itself cycles nutrients giving opportunities more species to find niches and produce yield. Geese recycle grass as feces and feathers, which provide niches for fungi, bacteria, grass roots and foliage to flourish, re-metabolising it back into life.

Interrupting cycles (e.g. through drought and other climatic factors, the use of biocides, or extinction of a species) diminishes yield, reduces life (order) and increases entropy (disorder).

Green Cleaning

Who would have thought that WIRED would have a 'green' section!?! This article on green cleaning tips around the home was on their site a couples ago. Scary reading, but some great natural recipes too, well worth a read.

via WIRED green