Standard Solar on Extreme Makeover

Good Morning SuperForest!

We just got an email from our friends at Standard Solar. We met the Standard Solar crew last year, in Washington D.C. for the congratulatory rally for the D.O.E.

As it turns out, Standard Solar has been tapped to install a solar array on some lucky ducks house in the Sunday PM showing of Extreme Makeover.

Here's a great little photo gallery of some of the projects that Standard Solar has carried out recently:


Find more photos like this on PickensPlan


And a fun little film:



Nice!

Here's their press release:

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition This Sunday
Tune into your ABC affiliate this Sunday night, January 18, at 8pm EST and you should see one of the first-ever green dimensions of a home built by Ty Pennington and his crew on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. On extremely short notice back in November, Extreme Makeover selected Standard Solar to design and install a pole-mounted, 2.76 kilowatt array of solar panels for the rebuilt Drumm family home in Quincy Township, Pennsylvania. As with other Extreme Makeovers, the story Ty tells and the home they build will hit home and warm the heart."

So, if you've got a TV and are in the mood for some uplifting content, check out Standard Solar on Extreme Home Makeover this Sunday.

Congratulations both the Standard Solar for the recognition of their skills, and to Extreme Home Makeover for helping a lucky family get off of the grid.

(Anyone in the NY area have a TV? Can I come over and watch? I'll bring potstickers.)

Love to All,

Jackson


(top picky via inhabitat)

The Sunshine State: Keep Shining!

Hey!

Just saw this at the NY Times blog:

"The Sunshine state is starting to live up to its name on the energy front. Today Florida Power & Light, the state’s biggest utility, broke ground on what it says will be the first utility-scale solar investment in the state — and the second-largest of its kind in the country when it is fully turned on in 2010....

This solar thermal plant, which is located on the Atlantic coast just north of Palm Beach County, will consist of 180,000 mirrors, spread over 500 acres. It also matches solar power with an existing combined-cycle natural gas plant, so that when the sun is not shining, the natural gas can take over the work of powering the turbines....

The plant is the first of three solar facilities that F.P.L. is constructing in Florida, which the utility says will make the state the second-largest solar energy producer in the country. California is currently the largest."

Yay for progress!

Thanks to Florida Power and Light for the image and the NY Times for letting us know!


Niki

New Orleans Prospect .1: Emergency Response STUDIO!

Hi Everyone,

I spent the last weekend in New Orleans where I attended a lovely wedding and a small section of the Prospect .1 Contemporary Art Exhibit . Prospects .1 is the largeset biennial of international contemporary art ever organized in the United States, so if you are close by, it is worth checking out!  I was in the state for a mere 48 hours, so I don't have too much to report, other than noticing this amazing project: 

"Emergency Response Studio, by Paul Villinski, is a solar-powered, mobile artist's studio, repurposed from a salvaged FEMA-style trailer. This sustainably re-built, off-the-grid living and work space is designed to enable artists to "embed" in post-disaster settings, and respond and contribute creatively. Villinski conceived the project in response to the devastation of post-Katrina New Orleans as "a symbol of transformation and possibility for the communities of the Gulf Coast."

Great concept--You can get more info on his website. I love the idea of artists creating spaces for artists in times of need. 

There was probably more amazing work there, I just really didn't get to see as much as I would have liked, so hopefully I'll be able to go back again soon.

Happy Monday! 

Niki 

1978 Hydrogen Car (with Jack Nicholson at the Wheel!)

Just saw this over at treehugger.

Wow.

Thirty years ago they were talking about using solar cells to make hydrogen to power automobiles.

What we wonder is: What stopped that conversation?

No matter, for the idea has been revitalized and now stands at the precipice of, dare we say it? Widespread acceptance?

We love that Nicholson does the whole "breathing in the exhaust" bit. Good ol' non-toxic water vapor. Seriously, that's a smart bit of branding that's still every bit as effective now as it was then.

Solar Efficiency Chart

The above chart illustrates the efficiency of a solar energy systems over time.
As one can see, multijunction concentrators is currently (!) the tech to beat, boasting a 40.7 efficiency rate.

What this chart says to us is that solar power is still in its infancy, just beginning to chart in terms of exponential growth.

And that is a very exciting thing!

Imagine solar cells with 100 percent efficiency. This chart says to us that that goal is just around the corner.

Sweet.

This lovely chart is the work of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Solar Having a Really Good Year!

Peak Oil! Doom and Gloom! Petro Sadness! War of the Wells!

So much noise.

Meanwhile, in a quiet antechamber off away from the main stage, the solar power movement has grown massively in scale, all the while increasing in efficiency and decreasing in price.

It seems that everywhere one turns these days, there's great and encouraging news about solar power. Solar power breakthroughs and milestones are had and overcome with such regularity, that keeping on top of it has become a bit daunting.

And what a wonderful predicament to be in!

So much good news it's hard to keep track of it all!

Look at all of this wonderfulness:

Treehugger: Solar Industry Growth Prediction: US Largest Market by 2011

CNN: Unique business aims to spread solar power

MarketWatch: SolarCity Offers San Francisco Residents Solar Power for Less than Their Electricity Bills

Wall Street Journal: GT Solar a Bellwether for 'Green' IPOs

Seattle Times: Local schools shining light on solar panels

Reuters: Solar panels get aesthetic designs

Energy Exec: Record growth in renewable energy systems

And here's the crazy thing, all of these news items are six hours old or less.

Every single day brings a tidal wave of encouraging news just like this.

It's simply impossible not to be excited and optimistic.

Love to all,

Team SuperForest

Solar and Wind Powered Billboard in Times Square!

Sweet!

SuperForester Justin just sent this in. It was originally posted on engadget.

"Ever walk through Times Square and wonder how much electricity all those flashy billboards are soaking up? No? Well, Ricoh has, and now they're doing something about it. Ricoh Company Ltd. of Tokyo is erecting a 47 x 126-foot billboard at Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street that will be completely powered by the sun and wind. Fueled by 45 solar panels and four wind turbines, the billboard won't even need a backup electric generator. On days that the sun and wind aren't enough to power it, it will simply go dark. In the end, the billboard is said to reduce carbon dioxide usage by 18 tons a year. The billboard will go live in December, or just in time for the sun to go dark."

That's triple awesome. One billboard down, many to go.

Little by little, the world shifts and adjusts to the new responsibility.

Full story on engadget.

Solar Toys!

Hi!
I was at Kid-O the other day (in Greenwich Village) and I saw this Solar Powered Rainbow Maker:

I realized how oblivious I have been to the great toys out there for kids, to show them the power of the sun. It is one thing to explain the idea of alternative energy to kids, but how fun would it be to build things that actually work.

I just came across this, which looks like a rad gift if you have an older child, niece, nephew or friend (it is for kids 12+):

"The Power House Experiment Manual is organized around the story of a group of island dwellers who must learn to live sustainably using the resources available to them on their small island. As you read their journal entries and learn of their projects and experiments, you build models of the same projects and conduct the same experiments alongside them."

These are all the things the kit includes:

"The Heat Trap: Construct and experiment with a greenhouse
The Sun Collector: Collect the sun's rays to heat water
The Sun Burners: Make a solar cooker while learning about the principles of light before you cook rice and bake bread
The Water Vampire: Desalinate water, plant watercress, produce sauerkraut and make chewing gum
The Heat Absorbers: Learn how heat of evaporation provides cooling, conduct experiments about air humidity, build a hygrometer and test a refrigerator
Power Plants: Grow beans, make a potted plant feed a candle, harvest sunflower energy, build an oil press, and assemble an oil lamp
The Energy Converters: Extract electric current from sunlight and metals in acid, build a light telephone, galvanize a nail and split water into hydrogen and oxygen
The Forces of Magnetism: Generate electric current with magnetic fields. Build a current indicator, electric and solar motors, a transfer switch, and a crane. Lift pencils with the sun and learn about levers. Build an electric car
Wings in the Wind: Build a sail car and learn how wings and sails transform energy. Learn to sail with the wind, by the wind, and against the wind and examine a mixed energy vehicle"

Fat Brain Toys has a bunch of neat toys in the Solar Powered/Alternative Energy category.
Check them out...

Happy Playing!
Niki

Solar Powered MacBook!

Apple has just filed a patent for a solar powered PC, to look much like the concept above, one imagines.

MacBook plus Solar Power = Delicious.

Honestly, what more can be said?

The end of cords cannot come soon enough.

Thanks to inhabitat for the intel.

Solar Beach Tote!

Hey!

Just saw this over at 3R Living (the local brooklyn "future friendly" shop!).



Charge your phone, camera or Ipod while basking in the sun! It's pretty pricey, but having unlimited music time at the beach: priceless!
Enjoy the sun!
Niki

Steven Leckart: Note To SuperForest

Morning All!

Here we are on day two of Steve Leckart's off the grid challenge.
We wrote him yesterday inquiring as to the progress of his off-grid survival and he replied with a nice note for all the readers of SuperForest!

Here it is:

"Spirits are high! Main panel's got another hour or so before the sun disappears, and the generator's kicking away at about 1/2-3/4 full.

So far so golden! I spent the morning rather timid to stay plugged in and online, fearing that the warm solar teat of my main generator wouldn't have stamina. Man was I wrong. The panel's offsetting the drainage like a champ. Above and beyond expectations. I'm living in a major city. And for the past 16 hours I haven't touched the grid once.

Still, I will say that as optimistic and awesome as this is, my carbon footprint is significantly heftier than I'd care to imagine. The packages of gear that have been arriving at my home for the past week come from California but as far as Florida (actually, the UK, if I remember correctly). This is, well, pretty sucky. About as sucky as the fact that virtually every handheld solar charger comes with a bag of phone charger tips. It's cool you can adapt a variety of different phones (it'd be cooler if cell phone companies agreed on a standard universal plug!). But here's the thing: I use a Nokia. What am I gonna do with all those other tips!? It bums me out to look at the little baggie of sad, unused tips. Poor, Samsung. Cheer up, Motorolla.

Thus, a SF project occurred to me today!!!

CHALLENGE: acquire a Solio or HYMini charger and spend a lunch hour parked in a crowded outside area (be sure to bring all the tips); now offer to charge every phone you see for 15 minutes each.

Powering up someone else is totally empowering. I may just give this one a go myself."

-Steve Leckart

Amazing, Steve! That's a great idea.
It is a bit crazy to think that every cell company has a different charging tip.
(Oh how we wish we could just pull a string to charge our devices!)

Steve will be living off-grid for the remainder of the week, check his posts over at dvice.com.

Steve Off the Grid @ dvice

And thanks for the note!

Love and best wishes,

Team SuperForest

MOMA: Design and the Elastic Mind

NYMOMA has an incredible exhibit up right now about future-tech and design that is so mesmerizing and inspiring it requires multiple visits to appreciate fully.

After walking through and perusing the displays, we left feeling very good about the future of our species, and that is a very good thing.

Here are some of the images we shot with our iPhone:































Flabbergasting and thrilling.

Humans are so creative and ingenious. We're glad to be a part of that team.

Go and see Design and the Elastic Mind at MOMA, running through May 12th.

Love to all.


Team SuperForest

(Solar) Power to the People.

Good Morning All!

The NY Times has a great article online about the ever-cheapening cost of solar panel installation. Seems the companies that install solar panels have figured out a novel way to cut down on the cost to the homeowners.

Read it here: NYtimes "Pay for the Panels, Not the Power"

Some of the highlights:

"Some 148 megawatts of solar capacity came online in 2007, up 46.5 percent from the 101 megawatts installed the previous year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a Washington trade group." A nearly 50 percent increase! Great. We wonder what the numbers for 08 will be.

"California’s Million Solar Roofs program includes incentives that could translate into an $8,000 rebate for a typical home solar system. New Jersey’s solar incentive program has been so popular — the state went from six solar installations in 2001 to 2,712 at the end of 2007 — that it has run out of money. It is moving from cash rebates to rebates in the form of certificates that can be bought and sold to help companies meet required emission reduction levels."

Yay solar! From six installs in 01, to 2,712 in 07? We like those numbers.

Power, and where you get it, is one of the defining issues of our lives. Any steps towards decentralization are positive steps.


"Hierarchy"
Power plant goes down, no power for all.


"Democracy"
One power node goes down, the others take up the slack. Minty!


After all, there's only one person who should be controlling the power you use, and that person is you.

Power to the people, for the people, by the people.

Have a great day.

Love to all,

Team SuperForest

Hot Water Powered Solar Water Pump

Very exciting! Especially for places where sunlight is abundant and water is scarce. Places like, uhhh, most of earth's surface.

It pumps water on the upstroke, and generates power on the downstroke.

I think Parliament Funkadelic sang something about this years ago...

Solar Billboard

From Treehugger

Very smart.

And well done over at PG&E!

Check out the enviro-friendly direction PG&Es going in on their site.

Seems everyone wants a piece of the "saving our species" action.

SuperForest Assignment 1

Okay peoples,

I gots an assignment for you.

You have to make a video.

If you do, and send it in, you will win a prize!

Here's what it is: An ad for a company that sells and installs solar panels.

Okay, this is very simple. The following four ideas must be communicated. (Failure to address each one is grounds for thorough haranguing)

THE FOUR POINTS

1.) A HOMEOWNER is upset over bills.

2.) HOMEOWNER calls SOLAR COMPANY X

3.) Friendly, clean, DELIVERY MEN (OR WOMEN) show up and install solar panels on the roof (backyard, garage, field, etc.)

4.) HOMEOWNER watches in amazement as the electric meter spins BACKWARDS!

That's it. You can fulfill this assignment in the media (medium) of your choice (stop-motion, music video, slide-show, etc.) but it must be committed to video. Aside from getting the four points across, you have total and ultimate freedom.

Post the video to Youtube, or the website of your choice and send me a link at: superforestnyc@gmail.com

I will put all of the videos up on the site and we will have a good, old fashioned video watch!

And everyone who participates gets a prize! A shiny and exciting prize!

Remember the FOUR POINTS:





And the bestest video gets an exceptionally shiny, wonderful prize!

This assignment ends on my birthday, February 28 2008. (Though you're welcome to continue making things and sending them in.)

I will be reposting this bi-monthly so as to remind.



Happy Creating!

-Jackson

Solar Powered Toothbrush

From engadget.com

Check out this sweet baby!

Apparently, the Soladey-3 "uses solar energy to create ions that "clean and sanitize" without the use of toothpaste."

Good fun from the nice people at compact-impact.com

Oil/Solar

Oil.


Solar.


I'm not criticizing oil, but the reality of crude oil power is aggression and imperialism, while the reality of solar power is decentralization and renewability.

Hey, aggression and imperialism had their uses, but we have outgrown them.

The new way is freedom and respect for all, and that is what solar power embodifies.

According to me, anyway.

Happy Monday!


Love to all,

Jackson