Tag: Solar Living Institute

The Solangelist Learns To Install Solar & Loves It

Categories citizen volunteer, climate change, environment, renewable energy, Saving Energy, solar power, Sustainability, Yes We Can!6 Comments on The Solangelist Learns To Install Solar & Loves It

I have to admit that for the first few hours of day one in PV101: Introduction to Photovoltaics I was dazed and confused by all the foreign concepts I was trying to grasp at once.  I wasn’t feeling very Creative or very Greenius.  I was feeling mostly dumb ass.

electricalequationsUnderstanding Ohm’s Law of resistance, the basics of current, amps and volts, not to mention the concepts of alternating current, Kirchhoff’s Circuit laws and the many fun equations that spell it all out – if you happen to read and understand those hieroglyphics – had me feeling pretty damn ignorant and out of my element.

The extent of my electrical background heretofore consisted of installing lighting fixtures and new wall switches – so long as they were replacements for existing items that got wired the same way.

Now my head was swimming with concepts of Joules, Coulombs and electrons all dancing about in the mysterious ways they create electricity.

And I was quite certain that of the 25 or so other guys in the room, every single one of them knew a hell of a lot more about the electrical basics than I did.

Continue reading ➞ The Solangelist Learns To Install Solar & Loves It

Greenius On The South Bay Scene – The Green Report

Categories citizen volunteer, environment, Environmental Politics, green education, renewable energy, solar power, SustainabilityLeave a Comment on Greenius On The South Bay Scene – The Green Report

If you want to have your finger on the pulse of what’s happening on the South Bay green scene being on Dency Nelson’s Friends for A Green Hermosa Beach e-mail list is a pretty damn good place to start.

dency-tesla

The green story of Dency Nelson is worth an entire blog onto itself, but he’s far too busy and actively involved to ever have time for that.  His green roots go back to the 1970s along with those of his friend, Ed Begley Jr.

Ed became a star in front of the camera, Dency became a superstar on the other side of the camera.  Today they both drive electric cars powered from the charge generated via their rooftop solar panels.

Today, I think a new TV series called “Living With Dency” has the potential to be an even bigger hit than “Living With Ed”  has been.  After all, Dency lives in the far more telegenic South Bay and his solar panels have an ocean view…

Continue reading ➞ Greenius On The South Bay Scene – The Green Report

The Further Adventures of The Solangelist

Categories climate change, environment, renewable energy, Saving Energy, solar power, Sustainability1 Comment on The Further Adventures of The Solangelist

As we move into the final month of the year 2008 I keep looking up at my rooftop longingly.

Even with the extension of the solar tax credit which came as an unexpected bonus along with the $700 billion bailout and the big increase in how much you can claim, I still think dipping into my cash reserve to the tune of $29 grand for the up front cost of my solar system would be loony tunes at the moment – and with the economy putting us into this Not So Great Depression I’m not really interested in adding that much in debt in order to pay for my panels.

Continue reading ➞ The Further Adventures of The Solangelist