A University of Arizona engineering team led by Roger Angel has designed a new type of solar concentrator that uses half the area of solar (PV) cells used by other optical devices and delivers a light output/concentration that is over 1000 times more concentrated before it even hits the cells.
This comes as a result of a broader goal to make solar energy cost competitive with fossil fuels (target = 1$/W) without the “need for government subsidization.” *
Solar concentrators — optical systems of lenses, reflectors, and photo-voltaics — have been developed before, but for Angel and his team, their innovation was the result of rethinking the entire concentrator concept. This new “energy telescope” focuses incident light, via reflectors, through a ball lens, which then emerges 400 times more concentrated; a second series of funnels then triples this concentration (reaching concentration levels up to 1200 times the “geometric concentration”).
Astronomy professor Angel, who directs the Mirror Lab at the UA Steward Observatory, has been at the forefront of a technological renaissance in telescopes and large optics. His explorations include concepts for imaging and searching for primitive life on Earthlike planets and ways to cool the Earth with myriads of sunshades deployed in space. Most recently, he has developed a prototype of a photovoltaic system with the potential of revolutionizing solar power generation in a way that dramatically increases efficiency and lowers cost.
For the latest news on the REhnu website, the company Mr. Angel formed to get this idea to market click here: http://www.rehnu.com/news
This is a historic moment for our planet to hear them speak. The Hopi Elders have come forward with a message to the world in response to the tsunami and earthquake disaster in Japan.
They give humanity a simple message for our future and how to overcome these difficult times.
From the original copy:
The Hopi are praying the people of Japan and for the people around the world as we face crisis in our world out of balance.
We are all in a time of great change upon mother earth and these events have been foretold by our Elders.
Through our Prophecies and our Ceremonies the sacred land of this earth is now crying. And our children are looking to Hopi to balance life for their future.
Our Elders have given us guidance for how to move through these changes. Humanity is now choosing the path upon which all life will follow and we have known this time would
come.
As Hopi, we ask you to join us in prayer to balance mother earth and all life. We believe that, through our prayers and that if we pray with good hearts as told by our Elders, we can lesson the impact of these events.
We as the Hopi join our prayers with those of the Dalai Lama along with people from around the world to send healing to Japan, the earth and all life.
In this time of change, we ask all the people of the world to return to a more balanced way of life.
Hopi say there is a path to follow that allows for us to move through this time of change.
Walk gently upon our earth with respect for her and all life.
A return to connecting our heart with the heart of the path to the future.
Join your hearts to Hopi in honoring our Mother Earth by planting gardens, respecting our Sacred life giving waters and all life for future generations of our children.
“Kwak wha, Lolmani”
(Thank you, may there be good things in the future.)
Kikmongwi (Village Chief)
Lee Wayne Lomayestewa of the Village of Sungopavi
Hopi Nation
One city in France was wide-awake early in the trend of going green. Located on the country’s west coast, La Rochelle now has an eco-transport system to be proud of.
La Rochelle in western France isn’t just a beauty spot, it’s a city whose green credentials leave others green with envy.
What’s become the city’s grand project all began in 1976 with hire bikes, an idea many other cities are only now beginning to adopt themselves.
These pick-up-and-drop-off bicycles are available all over town.
With a monthly subscription of 25 euros they’re free for the first half hour, then half a euro per hour.
Users simply swipe a card and off they pedal.
The swipe-and-hire system now includes electric cars.
Local resident Peggy Landon explains why she sold her car when she started using the system.
[Peggy Landon, Local Resident]:
”Well it’s obviously much, much cheaper. But I think also the other aspect that I really like is the sharing aspect of a car; everybody doesn’t need to have their own car.”
Next came electric boats … park and ride … and even deliveries.
To cut congestion goods are dropped outside the center and delivered by electric vans.
On top of keeping La Rochelle clean and green, local Vice President Denis Leroy is keen to transform the citizens as well as the city.
[Denis Leroy, Local Vice President]:
“The coming generation will not own their own car, it is less into cars than us, it is our generation that put the car everywhere. The car is a practical object so they use it for the time they need it and, seeing how much cars cost, they would rather spend their money elsewhere.”
The plan is to get people out of private cars, onto the streets and back into the community.
Peggy is certainly a convert.
[Peggy Landon, Local Resident]:
”To do something like this, to use these electric cars, what I feel is that it makes you want to do more for the environment. And to try and maybe explore other different possibilities where we can each do just one little thing to make a difference,” said Landon.
City authorities say this is more than just going green, it’s a philosophical vision.
La Rochelle is blazing a trail and those who are green with envy are keen to follow suit.
1. Speaker: Indigenous Native American Prophecy, 0:00 - 1:22 Red Crow Westerman. 1:33 - 9:53 Oren Lyons
2. (Graphics “Planet Earth”) Award-winning BBC nature documentary series narrated by David Attenborough and produced by Alastair Fothergill
3. Soundtrack: From the movie Patch Adams. Contains Music by Various Artists, Marc Shaiman
Edited, synced and cut by: Anders Fredblad 4 december 2008 Sweden”
People are powerful and there is time to become the change you want to see in the world. Non-compliance will change the current global system.
[Excerpt from Original Article]
In April 2005 I first traveled to the town of Visoko, 20 miles northwest from Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina. My attention was caught by two regularly shaped hills, which I later named the Bosnian Pyramids of the Sun and Moon…when I first saw their triangular faces, obvious corners and orientation toward the cardinal points, I knew that they had
to be constructed by a force other than nature. Since I had been investigating pyramids for decades I knew that pyramids in China, Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador have had the same type of soil and vegetation coverage.
In 2005 I started working on this project and paid construction companies and geologists to do core drilling and geo-morphological analysis. I then announced to the world, in a press conference, that the first pyramids in Europe had been discovered. Full story here
Perhaps by changing our beginnings we can change our present and our future for the better.
Other interesting links:
Report: The new access routes below the Bosnian Pyramids! - January 16, 2011 Abstract - Many readers know that famous geologists and archeologists doubted the artificial origin of the Pyramids in the Visoko Valley and even the presence of an ancient civilization in these areas, particularly with an advanced level of technology. Yet, as excavations proceed, a very ancient, increasingly complex and sophisticated underground maze is emerging. Therefore, after telephone news coming from the Ravne tunnels, we rapidly organized a new joint scientific expedition of the University of Trieste and Milan, in collaboration with the Foundation which is managing the excavations. What we discovered this time is even more amazing than previous expeditions so we decided to publish it immediately. But it’s just the beginning.
There are a number of promissing new entries into the electric bike arena. Some DIY, some kits, and some manufacturers. They range all the way up to above $42,000. They market is really ready for multiple solutions and some are getting there. Below are a few very interesting videos and articles bringing light to this very interesting area of solutions that are moving away from the fossil age.
Here is a great website for conversion kits:
The “E-Rocket” from Berlin, Germany…
E-Bike by Volkswagen
electricmotionsystems.com
And for safety you might want to check this out…
2011 Mini Scooter-E electric scooter
2011 Yamaha Electric Scooter
2011 Honda Electric Scooter
The E-Bu Bu Scooter
BMW Concept Scooter… electric version coming soon
2011 Ryno Motors first ride in parking innovative self-balancing one wheel electric scooter
And then there is the UNOCycle…
http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2009-11/electric-unicycle-transforms-two-wheeler
SolarEnurgy.net is powered completely by solar, wind and renewable energy to the tune of 130% of the data center power consumption, so we're not only neutralizing our carbon footprint, but also pumping an extra 30% of green energy back into the power grid! A light footprint.
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