Imagine you could go to Home Depot and for a few hundred dollars purchase an appliance that plugs in like a blender and generates a chunk of the energy your home needs, renewable and emissions-free.

Once a pioneer at Real Networks in Seattle, Chad Maglaque invented the Jelly Fish wind turbine–It’s a 36-inch-tall rooftop wind turbine that you can plug into a socket in your home–no fancy setup required–and generate up to 40 kWh a month, about enough to power a home-full of LEDs or a room full of CFLs. It also comes Wi-Fi and WiMax equipped. He calls it the PC of renewable energy; meaning, the Jellyfish will do for the wind power industry what the personal computer did for the computer industry.

 “The Jellyfish Wind Appliance is a small 36-inch tall vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) with a solid-state controller and a variable-speed induction generator that plugs directly into an existing wall socket and automatically generates power whenever the wind blows. The Jellyfish can be mounted on rooftops, wind towers or even existing street light poles – which are already pre-wired to the grid and have the tower already in place! And, it can generate up to 40 kWh per month in moderate winds enough to light an average home using energy efficient light bulbs with a target price under $400 the Jellyfish would be an affordable option for many households and developing communities looking to harness wind power for the first time. His idea is that the utility or the city will subsidize the $400 cost down to $199 or less with tax rebates. One vision is that the Jellyfish may help enable district wind energy co-ops. Neighbors may be able to join together to work with the power utilities:

 Working in tandem with the existing power grid, the Jellyfish enables large-scale distributed-generation, delivering power exactly where it’s needed and reducing the demand for costly transmission infrastructure.”

As a new member of the Dallas Green Building Alliance, I was picked to start off our weekly blogs for the month of February. Sunday morning rolled around and my blog was due Tuesday, so I was starting to sweat it! Well as I was sitting at my breakfast table, drinking a cup of coffee sifting my way through the World Wide Web, an idea dawned on me. “That’s it!” I said to myself. My first blog has to be about a green system that will put some cash back into the consumer’s wallet. Instantly, net metering came to mind.

What is Net Metering? It is a provision that allows consumers to connect their alternative energy source (like wind or solar power) to the electrical grid. The consumer will first use the energy they have created before consuming energy from the electrical grid. This will ultimately reduce your energy bills dramatically and relieve some of the stress on the electrical grid, especially in peak hours. The Ultimate goal with net metering is to generate enough renewable energy to self-sustain your own energy consumption. If you are supplying more than is needed, than the excess energy is fed back through your meter to the electrical grid, and you are given credit. Not to mention, to help get your started, Uncle Sam issues a tax credit of up to 30% of the total cost of the system, so you will be receiving a savings instantly!

Check out this Video on Net Metering!

Written By:

Wesley Scott

Archways & Ceilings Made Easy

www.archwaysandceilings.com

(Resources: Photos from isolarpowerforhomes.com & solar-panel-homes.net)

Did you know that over 5% of the energy usage in your home each year is consumed by electronics that you assume are turned off when not in use?  The US spends over $5.8 million dollars a year on something called “phantom power”, and growing at a rapid pace.  That is an estimated 65 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year.
Some of the biggest energy wasters in most homes are the adapters that come with rechargeable battery-powered cordless phones, cell phones, digital cameras and music players, power tools, and other electronic devices. Most draw power whenever they are plugged into an outlet, regardless of whether the device battery is fully charged—or even connected. Other culprits include appliances or electronic equipment with standby capability (such as televisions and computer monitors), a remote control, and/or a digital clock display (such as microwaves, DVD players, and stereo system)
The best way to avoid this wasted consumption is to simply unplug all items you are not using, but I found a product that just makes saving energy a breeze.  One convenient slide of the GreenSwitch puts you in custom control of your electricity usage. (With no rewiring off your home)With GreenSwitch, you designate which outlets and lights are affected and you set the personal settings for your programmable climate control. Single-control outlets let you customize each outlet, allowing you, for example, to turn off the TV in one plug while keeping the digital video recorder in the other socket of the same outlet on and recording. You can also set your system up in zones, where one switch powers down your living area when you retire and another switch controls the home office that is used late into the night. Also, each component wirelessly relays the signal, giving GreenSwitch infinite range. This means that you can turn the lights off in the garage or backyard shed from the convenience of your kitchen or entry way on your way out or in.

For more information, visit:

http://texas.greenswitch.tv/index.cfm?

Photo: Sharp

Energy-efficient lighting without compromises is on the mind of every green builder & remodeler – and finding products and solutions is not always easy and hardly ever fits in any lighting budget. Well, Sharp just introduced a great new product and will hopefully introduce it to the US market soon.

Sharp just introduced  nine models of LED lamps featuring outstanding environmental performance, including high energy efficiency, long service life, and free of hazardous mercury. Because these lamps have the same standard screw-in base and fit in the same sockets as ordinary incandescent lamps, they are simple and easy to use as replacements for ordinary lamps.

The model DL-L60AV LED Lamp features an Adjustable Color Function that enables users to change the color of the white light through a remote control. Users can choose from seven different shades of white ranging from a pleasing warm white to a cooler daylight white to match the weather, the season, time of day, purpose, or other preferences. This model also features a built-in Dimmer Function to adjust brightness.

In addition, the model DL-L601N LED Lamp delivers a brightness of 560 lumens, among the highest in the industry for LED lamps*1 having nearly the same size and shape as ordinary incandescent lamps.

LED lamps consume a small amount of electricity and contribute to reducing CO2 emissions by saving energy. The models DL-L401N/L LED Lamps offer extremely economical operation, and can be run for approximately 11 hours at a cost of only one yen*2. All models feature a service life of 40,000 hours.

Major Features
1. Adjustable Color Function enables users to change the color of light from the lamp ranging from warm white to daylight white, an industry first*1, using the remote control (model DL-L60AV).
2. Brightness of 560 lumens, among the brightest in the industry*1 for an LED lamp having nearly the same physical size and shape as a standard incandescent lamp (model DL-L601N).
3. Outstanding energy efficiency allows lamp to be used for approximately 11 hours for a cost of one yen*2 (models DL-L401N/L).
4. Long service life with a design lifetime of 40,000 hours.
5. Bright, even illumination.

For exact specifications see Sharps press release.

I hope we will see much products like these introduced to the market this year. It will certainly make the life of any green builder a lot easier.

Source: Sharp