Alternative & Renewable Energy, by Jeff Arcel
(Photo of roof-top solar panels, from Mothers’ Power)
The following is a short outline of the event. For the complete gathering summary, see our pdf files:
- Gathering Summary: Alternative Energy, Part 1 (Solar)
- Gathering Summary: Alternative Energy, Part 2 (Wind & Other)
You can also view Jeff’s slideshow as a pdf file (2.1 MB so takes a while to download): Slideshow: Renewable Energy Solutions. Some of his slides are blurry or impossible to read (slides 6, 7, 10, 43, & 65); if you want a copy of these slides at higher resolution (4 MB file) please contact Catherine: cat(at)essentialstuff.org.
Presentation Outline
(Photo of Local Wind Installation, from Mothers’ Power)
- What is Alternative/Renewable Energy?
- Harnessing the Sun’s Energy
- Solar Power: Photovoltaics (PV)
- Thermal Solar: Hot Water
- Harnessing Wind Energy
- Hydro Power, including Small Hydro Power
- Geothermal
- Emerging Trends & Technologies (Fuel Cells, Nanosolar, Thin Film, etc.)
- Community Power
- Financial Incentives
- Future of Transportation
References, and For More Information
- US Department of Energy documents: History of Solar
- Alternative Energy Sources, History of Solar
- Telosnet.com: Illustrated History of Wind Power Development
- US Department of Energy: The History of wind energy; Wind & Water Power Program: Wind Energy Technologies & History; Geothermal Heat Pumps; and Geothermal Heat Pump Systems
- Wikipedia: on ‘Joule‘: on ‘Insolation
- Apricus Solar Hot Water, on ‘Insolation‘
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); PV Solar Radiation Maps
- Solar Pathfinder: How it Works and Video
- Wholesale Solar: Off-Grid Solar Diagramsl; Grid-Tie diagram
- Solar Panels Plus: Solar hot water Closed Loop; and Diagram
- Build Solar Hot Water System
- Riverstar In-Stream Hydro System
- Geothermal Energy Office (GEO)
- CBS 60-Minutes Feature on The Bloom Box
- Celsias on Geothermal Power
- Renewable Energy World on Geo-Electricity
- The EssentiaList: Rail Transit in the Flathead
- Who Killed the Electric Car?: Trailer (YouTube); Summary (Wikipedia)
- Alternative Energy News: Nanosolar; Thin-Film PV