Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg today unveiled, at Dübendorf airfield close to Zurich, the Solar Impulse HB-SIA, the first aircraft designed to fly both day and night without fossil fuel or pollution. see the video

The presentation of the prototype took place in front of more than 800 persons, including 200 representatives of the international media, and many high-ranking guests among them H.S.H. Albert II of Monaco, the Swiss Minister of Energy and Environment, the CEOs of Solvay, Omega and Deutsche Bank and the CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The press conference was also relayed live on Internet and was followed by journalists all around the world. 60 media representatives gathered in Beijing and followed the conference in front of giant screen, in simultaneous translation for the occasion.

A revolutionary airplane
Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg first retraced the history of the project since it was launched in 2003. 6 years of intense work, calculations, simulations and tests were needed by the 70-person team to complete this totally unprecedented aircraft: with the wingspan of a Boeing 747-400 and the weight of an average family car (1600 kg), never has such a large craft been built with such low weight. Over 12,000 solar cells mounted onto the wing will supply renewable energy to the four electric motors with a maximum power of 10 HP each. During the day they will also charge the lithium-polymer batteries (400 kg), which will permit the HB-SIA to fly through the night.

The HB-SIA is the first prototype of the Solar Impulse project. Its mission is to demonstrate the feasibility of a complete day-night-day cycle propelled solely by solar energy. After fine-tuning on the ground, the aircraft should make its first test flights between now and the end of 2009, first of all at Dübendorf airport (canton of Zurich) and then from Payerne air base (canton of Vaud). A first complete night flight is programmed for 2010 and will take place over Switzerland.

The results from the HB-SIA and their analysis will serve to develop and build a second aircraft, the HB-SIB for circumnavigating the word in five stages, each lasting several days, in 2012.

A supporters program
In response to demands from many enthusiasts, Solar Impulse announced today a program specially reserved for people wanting to participate in the adventure and to express their support of the project’s philosophy. Supporters can enroll on www.solarimpulse.com to receive news in real time, to adopt a solar cell on the wing, reserve a VIP visit at the Solar Impulse base, or place their names on the aircraft’s fuselage.

A symbol for promoting renewable energies
In a world dominated by fossil fuels, and given the urgent need to find sustainable solutions, the Solar Impulse project sets out to demonstrate the potential of renewable energies and to promote their use. It is also a symbol of the energy savings that can be accomplished using new technologies. The pioneering spirit which enabled man to conquer the planet and space in the 20th century should today allow us to find solutions to reduce our dependence on oil, not by reducing mobility and personal comfort, but by creating dreams, hope and enthusiasm.

This is an extraordinary moment.

There are mere days before the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the most unprecedented clean energy and climate legislation in our nation’s history. But, our opponents have stepped up a blatant distortion campaign on TV and behind closed doors to scare Congress from taking action.

They know this vote will be close. But, what the special interests have in money and rhetoric, we have in facts and supporters like you.

Let your Representative know that you want a cleaner and stronger economy today. Urge them to support the American Clean Energy and Security Act now.

Call your Representative: 877-9-REPOWER (877-9-737-6937)

When you call, you will be given talking points and simply instructions to be connected to your Representative. Afterwards, help us coordinate our campaign by reporting your call here.

Just a few days ago, Members of Congress who oppose clean energy paraded around a map that distorts the truth about curbing carbon pollution. Not only was the analysis misleading, the computer file still listed the original author — the coal lobby.

And another group, funded by the fossil-fuel industry, released targeted TV ads designed to drum up fear ahead of the vote.

We can’t let the corporate interests fighting to keep the status quo scare us into sticking to rising fuel costs, more job losses and a continued dependence on foreign oil.

Congress has debated clean energy and the climate crisis for decades. Now is the time to act. Let’s make sure the House passes this historic legislation.

Please call your Representative: 877-9-REPOWER (877-9-737-6937)

Thanks for all that you do,

Steve Bouchard
Campaign Manager

Windmills were previously used in early times to pump water out of the ground to irrigate systems and to grind wheat. Through progressive technology, they soon found other useful purposes for these windmills. With a little human ingenuity, they have been made to generate electricity. But how do windmills works?

Wind power is a renewable kind of energy and it is a powerful source as well. It is considered as one of the most practical and perfect sources because it produces zero emission and it is abundantly free. The best thing about the structure is that it can reduce the power bill of any home by 50 to 80 percent.

Basically this structure consists of 2 to 3 blades that are connected to a shaft. These blades are used to collect the wind energy that flows over them. The shaft meanwhile is wired into a generator, which then is linked to a battery. The generator is also called the heart of such a mechanism, as it is the one that converts the energy collected.

Upon collecting and converting, a battery is needed for storing all the collected energy, which then can be coupled or linked into a home’s electrical system.

How Do Windmills Work – The sequence:

- First of all, it slows down the speed of the wind using the blades, which work similarly as airplane’s propellers.

- When the wind flows over the blades, these blades collect kinetic energy.

- Then the blades, which are linked to a drive shaft, revolve slowly and send a lot of the turning force into the gearbox.

- The gearbox then modifies this turning force, and instead of revolving slowly with a lot of force in every revolution, it goes faster with less force in every revolution.

- At that moment, the generator, which is connected to the gearbox, creates electricity through the many magnets and copper wires inside of it.

An important factor that plays a vital role on the way this machine works is the size of the structure itself, as the amount of electricity generated depends upon it. The bigger it is, the more powerfully it can drive the shaft, which means the greater electricity it can produce.

You might also notice that some windmills are located on top of valleys and mountains. This is because the blend of hot and cold air can create moving air. Sometimes they are positioned near bodies of water, because this also generates wind due to the change in temperature brought about by the sea and the sun.

One important fact on how windmills work is that a single turbine can generate 100 megawatts of electricity. Imagine then how much electricity a wind farm with large turbines grouped together can create to provide bulk power to an electrical grid.

Learn more about wind energy by visiting
Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Energy
and
Solar and Wind Power For Residential

Solar Pool heaters can greatly reduce your energy costs. They’re more cost effective than either gas or heat-pump swimming pool heaters. You’ll be able to save on annual operating costs once a solar pool heater system is installed. Best of all, a solar swimming pool heater can be used in most climates.

The typical solar pool heater system consists of a solar collector, a filter, a pump, and a flow-control valve.

- The solar collector is the device which the pool water passes through, to be heated by the sun.

- The filter removes the dirt and debris before the water is pumped into the solar collector.

- The pump is the what circulates the water through the filter and solar collector, and brings it back into the swimming pool.

- And finally, there’s the flow-control valve. It is either an automatic or a manual device, which redirects the water through the solar collector.

A solar pool heater system works in the following manner:

The water from the pool is pumped through the filter and then enters the solar collector, where it is again heated before it returns to the pool. In hot climates, the solar collector can also be utilized to cool the pool. It does this by circulating the water at night.

Some solar pool collectors use sensors and a valve, which redirects water through the solar collector when the collector temperature is greater than the pool water temperature. When both temperatures are the same, the filtered pool water will not return to the collector but will simply return to the pool.

There are different types of solar pool heating systems. They differ in the types of materials they are made out of. You will need to find out which type is best for your region’s climate, and how to use it.

There are glazed and unglazed solar collectors. If the temperature in your area reaches above freezing, then you’ll probably just need an unglazed solar collector. This is made out of heavy-duty rubber or plastic, treated with a UV light inhibitor. Unglazed solar collectors are cheaper than their glazed counterparts, because the parts are inexpensive, and their design is simple.

Glazed solar collectors are typically made from copper tubing and aluminum plates, with iron-tempered glass covers. These are quite expensive, but in colder weather, this type of system is more efficient in heating pool water than unglazed collectors are. Glazed solar collector systems can also be used as domestic hot water heaters. Both types of solar pool heating systems need to have freeze protection when used in harsh cold weathers.

As you can see, solar pool heater systems can be a good investment. You’ll save a lot of money in terms of energy costs, in the long run.

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For more information on solar pool heaters, and how to choose the solar pool heating system which is right for you, visit Solar Pool Heating or DIY Solar Pool Heaters.

Anna Williams is the webmaster of a website on Solar Power Information.

With oil prices moving higher and higher, power costs tend to follow the same trend. Given that our daily life relies very much on the consumption of electricity, getting your power from alternate sources is an attractive option.

The sun, water, and even wind are viable sources of energy. What’s more, they are renewable sources of energy as they are constantly present in our environment. More and more people now care to set-up their own windmill at their homes. With the many instructions to build a windmill available out there, it is up to you to find the one that is easy to comprehend.

Here are some simple instructions to build a windmill:

Basically, there are several different types of windmills, based on the direction their blades spin:

1. The Horizontal upwind, where the wind hits the blade before the tower and the shaft stands horizontally;

2. The Horizontal downwind where the wind hits the tower before the blade; and

3. The Vertical Axis, mounted on short towers and its blades are pointing upwards.

Essentially, a windmill has four parts that must be given extra attention:

- base
- tower
- blades
- nacelle

In building this structure, the main objective is to maximize the conversion of the wind’s energy into electricity. Therefore, it should be high enough to take advantage of the wind’s action in obstructed terrains – an average tower usually stands at 5 feet.

The base must be strong and heavy compared with other parts, to ensure a sturdy structure because it is the main foundation. It is advisable to use materials like sandbags or concrete, and in the case of a five-foot windmill, the base must be at least 18 inches square thick and 20 pounds heavy.

The tower supports the blade in capturing wind energy. There are many approaches when building it. You can either use guyed lattice or steel and pipe tubings or erect them using a jin pole or crane.

The nacelle attaches the blade to the tower and contains copper wires and magnets that run the blade and help convert the wind’s energy to electricity.

The blade is the propeller used to capture the wind’s energy, so it is necessary that the blades are able to gather the flow of the wind easily, turning with the least potential resistance.

Materials to be used for these parts must be lightweight, so you can carve them from plastic or PVC pipes. Note that in strong winds and storms, the blades can pose a danger if separated from the structure, so be sure to lock in the blades securely, keeping safety precautions in mind.

Considering that a simple windmill could cost at least $40,000, constructing one for personal use can be quite expensive, but utilizing what is around you can help you save some expenses.

It is therefore recommended to recycle parts in order to reduce your expenses. Following these simple instructions to build a windmill will enable you to build one from scratch.

Windmills are just the beginning. To learn more about solar and wind power, go to Solar and Wind Power For Residential Homes or if you are looking for a simple way of building your own residential wind generator, see our Energy4Green Review.

In these times of worldwide warming and economic forces, mass are looking for ways to save and preserve vigor for their own financial benefit as well as bestow to the move to help solve the environmental issues we face.
There are many ways for people to preserve energy and use more renewable, environmentally social vigor sources. One of the most talked about option energy authors is solar force.

DIY solar power kits address these effects by allowing home owners the ability to execute their own solar force organizations on a budget.

The question remains though, just how easy is to assemble your own DIY solar ability kit? Well to put it bluntly its almost child’s play, there is nonetheless one master ingredient you must have and that is an excellent guide that will clearly and simply walk you through the action of assembling your own DIY solar force kit.
Once you have gotten your hand on one of these guides, you will see that all the cloths you need to put your DIY solar power kit are visible from your local hardware store. There is nothing special or hard to source need, simply check of the list of materials and tools allowed and follow the blueprints and commands (depending on the guide you have purchased this will either be in handbook or video format or both).

In setting up my DIY solar force kit, I got my youngest son Harry complex and at 13 he found it a snap to follow along with the instructions from the guide we purchased.

With our panels put together and place on our cap we are now projected to see welfares, especially in prices of money saved off our commonly power bill, I estimate so far we are running at about 40% less in terms of conforming energy sources and as we total more panels this will gain.

The consciousness it has set up in Hassle as to energy preservation and worldwide warming is priceless.

The residential wind generator idea is gaining popularity worldwide, as living in this age and time has become quite expensive, with even the basic necessities becoming too costly to acquire. One of these necessities is our need for electricity. With fuel prices skyrocketing, everyone is looking for ways to economize their expenses to be able to afford electric bills.

Many are opting to either buy or assemble their own wind turbines, but are having some doubts and concerns. So here are some pieces of information that might be able to help satisfy the information needs of most people when thinking of getting a wind turbine.

- This device is usually installed above a tall tower where it can gather kinetic energy from the wind’s motion and change it into electricity through a generator.

- Normally, a house that has installed a wind turbine is continuously served by the turbine itself and by their local utility. If the wind speed doesn’t fall into the cut-in rate, which is 7-10 mph, electricity would then be supplied by the electric utility.

- The basic rule of wind turbines is that “as the wind increases, output for the turbine also increases while the current supplied by the utility is lessened.

- If there is surplus electricity collected, it is automatically sold back to the utility, because residential wind generators usually have no battery packs.

- Small wind turbines could actually lower power bills by 50 to 80 percent. The amount of money it can save depends upon the use of electricity, the average wind speed on site, and other factors.

- A residential wind generator is relatively large and may not be suitable for urban or small-lot housings, as wind systems are sensitive to the speed of the wind within the area it is situated.

- Wind turbines are pollution-free, and a small type can actually counterbalance nearly 1.2 tons of air pollutants and tons of greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

- A typical wind turbine system makes less noise than the average washing machine, and it also does not interfere with the television’s reception contrary to what others think, as their blades are constructed of wood, plastic, and fiberglass.

- Upon installing the turbine, there is no need to rewire the appliances in a house since wind turbines are retrofitted to any home without changing the wiring or appliances.

- With regard to towers, tall towers are necessary to stop any hindrances that could prevent it from freely gathering wind energy. The most economical type of tower would be the guyed lattice tower, while a hinged tower can be simpler to install and maintain. Most small turbines are not high maintenance, since they have very few moving parts, and can operate and last up to 20 years.

A residential wind generator can be a good investment, although the return through your power bill savings would only be visible after 6 months to 15 years. Another advantage is that a well-working turbine would increase in property value.

Windmills are just the beginning. To learn more about wind and solar energy, read Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Energy or if you are thinking of building your own residential wind generator, see our Earth4Energy Review.

As fossil fuels diminish, energy costs are going to soar until we have a scalable and viable alternative energy source. Until then, making sure we use as little energy as possible directly saves us money with our fuel bills. So in the interest of saving energy, here are a collection of gadgets for your home that are designed to reduce your energy bills.

A central heating system is pretty effective for heating a home, but there are a number of inefficiencies. One of those inefficiencies are radiators, which sink a large about of heat into the wall on which the radiator is mounted. The radiator booster is designed to blast hot air from behind the radiator into the room. By increasing the air circulation, your rooms will heat up more quickly, therefore saving you the need to have the central heating switched on as long. The best bit is that the running cost of the radiator booster is only 30 pence a year (less than $1).

Using central heating is all well and good, but if the room is losing heat, you’ll be wasting energy. The Thermal Leak Detector from Black & Decker is essentially a remote thermometer that helps you find cold spots in a room. The detector shines a beam of light on to the part of the wall you’re checking. The colour of the light changes from red to blue when a cold spot is detected, with the temperature being shown on the LCD display on the detector. By finding the cold spots, you can then patch them up and save more energy.

For the kitchen, you can make your morning breakfast greener with a Morphy Richards Ecolectric Toaster. The toaster saves up to 35% of the energy compared to a conventional toaster. The Ecolectric Toaster uses a special cover that closes when you start to cook your toast, resulting in less energy needed to cook the toast. The toaster also uses a motorised carriage to ensure your toast is evenly cooked. It’s a bit more costly than a standard toaster, but it will save you money if your family consumes a lot of toast.

Finally, something for the bathroom, namely the EcoDrain. The EcoDrain is a clever heat exchanger device that takes the excess heat from waste shower water and uses it to pre-heat the cold water inlet to the shower. This means the shower’s heater uses 25-40% less energy compared to using just cold water. The EcoDrain has no moving parts, but it does have a non-stick coating on its waste pipe to ensure it doesn’t get blocked by dirt and debris. What makes the EcoDrain practical is that it needs very little plumbing work to fit it into your existing shower system!

I hope you enjoyed reading about these interesting energy saving gadgets. This article was written by Dan Harrison who writes about eco-friendly technology for EnviroGadget.com. EnviroGadget features all kinds of gadgets and technology that save water, save energy or just do something to help save the planet!