Non Pv Solar Light

  There is another way to harness the sun without all the wires and batteries. You can utilize the energy as it is created with the help of a skylight or solar tube. These kinds of interior lighting are incredibly efficient as you are taking advantage of the light its self with no losses in power conversion or storage. 

 The obvious drawback here is it only works for you when da sun is a-shinin. But that is no reason not to take advantage of its usefulness when it is. Houses, long ago, use to be designed with the sun in mind, southern exposures, big picture windows, (actually pretty poor at thermal insulating,) that are great for letting in light.

 
We tend to build on smaller lots now with fewer options, in some cases, to take advantage of natural lighting. We also build with relatively energy efficient materials to help us hold in the heat or air conditioning to help make our lives a little more comfortable. Unfortunately with smaller more energy efficient windows further handicapping our capacity to use this valuable resource. 

 

  The good news though is we can actually "pipe in" sunlight. With products like the tubular skylight we can enjoy the sun inside our temperature controlled environments. Not to mention save a little cash on the old power bill. 


   There are actually other benefits to letting in a little UV. Ultra Violet light has been use for all kinds of sanitation purposes. They are using it to kill germs and bacteria, mold and mildew, apparently it also offsets some of the ill effects of less than friendly old magnetic ballasted florescent lighting.   

 This type of technology should definitely be remembered in the struggle to become a little more frugal and a lot more energy efficient. If its already there you may as well use it to your advantage.  

 

Small Steps to Solar Independence

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 Not everyone can afford to go for the full off grid system right out of the gate but that shouldn't stop you from starting somewhere. I am a really happy to see smaller stand alone devices coming into vogue on the market recently. The technology isn't going to stop the world but at least its a start. I stumbled across this little gizmo here today and thought I would share. 

 It's a self contained solar light that has an extension cord to get the panel out into the sunlight to charge the 3 on board triple A batteries. I have seen several outdoor lights available listed as security, or spot lights but they mostly have the solar panel attached to the housing of the lamp itself. Where this one lets you get the panel out into the light with its 20 ft line so you can light up the dark little nooks and crannies during the day as well as at night. 

 The ease of installation permits even the less electrically informed among us to take advantage of free power without the hassle of playing with car batteries and solar controller and all that jazz. 

 The drawback to a system this small is a short life. It is only expected to produce light from all its 10 leds for 2 hours, and there is a low switch that lets you run it at half power for 4 hours (5 leds). If you want to just go out into the shed to grab a few things than 2 hours will be more than enough but if you  need to be out there for a little while than you may find it advantageous to get 2 sets that way you can produce up to 8 hours of light, in case your needs would so demand. 

 I think this will be a fantastic little setup if you need to get some candle power going in a dark spot without a candle or and electrician. This is probably the next best thing to a set I brought to your attention earlier in my article First Solar,Amorphous panels  . And its surely an easier way to get you on the road to your first solar experience.
 
 Though if you need a stronger light source than that, you should probably go for the amorphous panel set and get a 12v battery. Then you can pick up something like this florescent 12v light that will provide an amazing amount of light for its size and power consumption. These can be easily wired up to a standard lamp socket (like the ones in your house) then you just supply the 12v current and you are in business. Of course you can use the above mentioned amorphous panel set's 200 watt inverter to run any old household lamp as well.(albeit a bit less efficiently)

 Just be sure you don't get your 12v Dc (battery power, and solar panel power) and your 120v Ac (inverter power) confused.