Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic EvolutionSM
 Solar Electric Generating Systems - Boron, California (photo by Roger J. Wendell) |
Solar Energy and Appropriate Technology (Renewables and other good ideas!)
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What is Appropriate Technology anyway??
- The 1993 edition of The Dictionary of Ecology and Environmental Science defines Appropriate Technology as an "Applied science that is suitable for the level of economic development of a particular group of people. Appropriate technology is decentralized, can be understood and operated by its users (i.e., does not require outside operators), uses fuel and other resources that are either local or easily obtained, and involves machinery that can be maintained and repaired by its users. Often, but no necessarily, it is labor-intensive and involves simple machinery."
- I believe Appropriate Technology is being mindful of what we're doing and being aware of the consequences. An example might be the use of a 4,000 pound vehicle for a trip to the convenience store - Couldn't you make the trip on a bicycle and do you really need that 1/2 pound of ice-cream anyway?!
- Steve Troy, * of the Sustainable Village, says it this way;
"The definition of 'Appropriate Technology' changes with each situation. It's not appropriate to install solar modules in a place with very little sun, a wind generator in a place with little or no wind. What's appropriate in a large urban location is very different from what's appropriate in a remote, isolated environment. One quality that remains the same, however, is taking care of things. In each situation, the essence of AT remains appreciating, helping, caring. Planned obsolescence, throw-away products, poor quality all go against intelligent decision-making and the true spirit of appropriate technology."
- My own feeling is that Appropriate Technology is a much more "common-sense" philosophy than its fancy name implies. Although our grandparents, and those before them, didn't have the same lexicon (or "High" Technology!) they knew what was appropriate and what wasn't. It's not too late - we, too, can adopt their same "Can do" spirit of frugality** and efficiency!
*I received permission from Steve, himself, to quote him here
**I've also been doing some work on "Frugality" at www.VoluntarySimplicity.info
 Roger at Boron, California |
In March '07 David Eisenberg, Director of DCAT (Development Center for Appropriate Technology) in Tucson, wrote me with a nice definition of Appropriate Technology from British architect John FC Turner. Turner, author of Freedom to Build and Housing by People said,
"Truly appropriate technology is technology that ordinary people can use for their own benefit and the benefit of their community that doesn't make them dependent on systems over which they have no control." I agree with David that Mr. Turner's definition is powerful, concise and clear! - Roger |
Solar Flowers:
Parachute, Colorado
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Parachute, Colorado is located adjacent Interstate 70 about 320 kilometres (200 miles) west of Denver. These "solar flowers" are only a hundred metres or so from the highway and are used to power the Tourist information office at their rest area. A little information flyer, in the information office, states;"The solar flowers have eight petals, each made from two triangular solar panels. Each panel can produce 75 watts of electricity in full sunshine -- the same amount used by a 75-watt incandescent light bulb (or by four 19-watt compact fluorescent bulbs). Each solar flower with its 16 panels can generate 1,300 watts, or 1.2 kilowatts, of clean, renewable electricity.
All together, the three solar flowers can generate 3.6 kilowatts. That's the size of a solar energy system needed by one typical American household."
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Click Here for my YouTube video of Parachute's "Solar Flowers!" |
Simple Solar:
The following are some photographs and information about the very simple, but effective, solar power configuration that ran my entire amateur "Ham" radio station at home (We have moved to other side of town and are in the process of rebuilding the station...). Although our "new" house was 29 years old when we bought it, the previous owner made sure it was very energy efficient with extra insulation in the ceilings and walls with vinyl double pain windows throughout. And, so far, all of the household electricity we use is purchased from Xcel Energy's WindSource wind farm in Northern Colorado. Over time we'll be adding more features, to our home, to ensure it remains as energy efficient as possible.Please Note: It is not my intent to endorse specific products here - the items I'm using just happen to fit my budget, at the time, and are still serving me well. I've seen products from countless other manufacturers working as well as these, or better, in a variety of settings all around the world! So, do your research before you buy anything!
Click on these "thumbnail" images for a larger view:
Note: These photos and diagrams are from my last house and
will be be updated as new systems are installed and time permits!
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I purchased this deep-cycle marine battery for $64.83 at a local discount store and it lasted for 7 years of continuous use! The SunLogic charge controller was manufactured by a Ham operator I corresponded with before the Internet got big - it's been operational since the early 90s! |
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Here's a schematic-like drawing of my system at around 2000 (Click Here for the MS Word version of the same drawing...) |
Battery Info:
(This battery lasted 7 years and could have gone on
longer had I not let it lose its charge, over the cold winter
nights, when my system wasn't built at the new house yet...)
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This is a view of the truck bed toolbox "cage" that houses the battery and controller
in my backyard. My wife's rabbits (60k) had the run of our backyard back then. They
seem to have developed a taste for cables and wiring, hence the white cage fencing... |
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This is one of the two 40 Watt panels I use to run the entire system. The second panel is further up the tower, directly above this one - they both faced south. Although the tower was only 30 feet high it provided enough clearance over the roof to collect all the solar energy I needed year round. The panels were purchased used, many years ago, as surplus from the Solar Energy Research Institute (Now NREL) |
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This is a photo of some of the gadgetry that I power with solar. Click Here to see the antenna that was up above all this equipment... |
Cooking:
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Did You Know? 3.7 Pounds of fossil fuel and chemicals are needed to create a single 2-gram microchip. Source: Environmental Science & Technology, a journal of the American Chemical Society. |
A Visit to Solar Energy International
Cabrondale, Colorado (April, 2002)
 Me and their panels |
 Me at their entrance |
 Extra batteries |
 Baking oven |
 Solar Energy International |
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