Green Renewable Energy

Almost every day, one can find an article online or on the news or in print about the environment, living “green”, pollution and the changing climate. While these articles deal with environmental issues on large scale perspectives, there are a number of aspects of the current state of the economy and environment that affect and are influenced by the average middle class citizen.

A good example of a current economic and environmental trend today is the growing popularity of the use of renewable energy sources to provide some if not all of the electrical power in private homes. While solar power is a very popular alternative renewable energy source, many people are also turning to wind power and wind generators to provide them with affordable electricity.

In many Midwest states, one can see examples of the large electric cooperatives using wind power to generate significant amounts of electricity. This wind power is produced by large “farms” of massive wind generators. These generators are essentially oversized propellers mounted on top of very tall towers. The wind turns the propellers which provides the kinetic energy which is turned into electricity.

All of these large generator farms are located in rural or semi rural areas. However, it is possible for people who live in towns and cities to have efficient wind generators. The residential wind generator is simply a downsized version of the larger generator. Most residential wind generators are mounted on top of 20 to 30 foot tall towers or on top of shorter towers mounted on the roof of the house. The tower is much less obtrusive than one would think and many are painted to blend in with the color scheme of the house. In some cases, zoning laws might restrict exactly how tall of a tower one may have, but in almost all cases the wind generator can be adapted to conform to the regulations.

Just as with solar panels, the wind generator can be tied into the house’s electrical system and can provide electrical power directly to the house. While it is not generally advisable to try to go off the grid with a wind generator, one will usually be surprised at how much power it can produce on even a fairly calm day. The power the wind generator provides will be applied as a credit on the house’s electric bill, and in many cases will be sufficient to zero out the bill. This can save a family thousands of dollars per year and also has the effect of reducing pollution by indirectly reducing the amount of fossil fuel needed to power the electrical grid.

In all, installing and using a residential wind generator is a smart move for financial and for environmental reasons. With the savings one will get from the reduction in utility costs, many people will be able to recover the cost of the system in the first year alone, and in some cases, there are tax credits available for people who make energy efficient improvements to their homes.

We are constantly trying to find new ways to be environmentally friendly and wind generators are the perfect way to create renewable energy that’s good for the environment. One wind generator that is fast becoming the favorite of many is the Phoenix 300 Watt Wind Generator.

This generator is handy because it’s both small and compact which makes it very easy for anyone to install. It now has a new design and only weighs 12.5 kg which makes it easier to transport when compares to other larger more bulky previous models. The blades for this generator are made out of carbon fiber and with the new design all the parts have been made solid.

The Phoenix 300w wind generators are perfect for farms, rural and urban houses. Once installed, they can easily produce 500w output of electricity in no time which will definitely help you save money on your monthly electricity bill.

With the relatively low price of approximately US $690.00 per unit not only are you saving money, you are actually helping reduce green house gases by using wind power which is a renewable energy source to generate your electricity.

Generating electricity from the wind will help you save money on your electricity bill, and it is definitely an ideal solution for people who live in regional areas where main power isn’t as cost effective or reliable as the Phoenix 300w wind generator would be.

This machine can supply you with 50kwh per month when it has good wind conditions and average wind speeds are 12m/s and 210 wind hours.

If you need more information on the Phoenix 300w Wind Generators, please visit the website: www.WindGeneratorsToday.com

LEDs are solid-state semiconductor devices that convert electrical energy directly into light.
Thermal sources of light such as flames and incandescent filaments emit light when heated, either by chemical reaction (flames) or electrical heating (filament lamps). LED “cold” generation of light leads to high efficacy because most of the energy radiates within the visible spectrum.
Other common high efficiency light sources, such as fluorescent lamps and electro luminescent devices, also produce light without much thermal radiation outside the visible spectrum.
Because LEDs are solid-state devices, they can be extremely small and durable; they also provide longer lamp life than other sources.

Light is generated inside the chip, a solid crystal material, when current flows across the junctions of different material compositions.

An LED consists of two elements of processed material called P-type semiconductors and N-type semiconductors. These two elements are placed in direct contact, forming a region called the P-N junction. The composition of the different materials determines the wavelength and therefore the colour of light generated.

LED resembles most other diode types, but there are important differences. The LED has a transparent package, allowing visible or IR energy to pass through. Also, the LED has a large PN-junction area whose shape is tailored to the application. The device shown in Figure 1 is an AlGaInP LED because the semiconductor layers are aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), indium (In), and phosphate (P).

Main LED materials

The main semiconductor materials used to manufacture LEDs are:

*Indium gallium nitride (InGaN): blue, green and ultraviolet high-brightness LEDs
*Aluminum gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP): yellow, orange and red high-brightness LEDs
*Aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs): red and infrared LEDs
*Gallium phosphide (GaP): yellow and green LEDs

Why LEDs?

LEDs have a range of benefits which is fast making them the best solution for real energy efficient lighting. Over the course of the next few years some aspects are expected to change significantly.

Lifetime
As solid-state light sources, LEDs have a very long lifetime and are generally very robust due to no mechanical or moving parts.
Incandescent lights have an expected lifetime of 1k to 5k hours, while good quality LEDs are often quoted of having a lifetime of 50k hours, more than 5 years continuous use. However it is important to to understand that the performance of LEDs degrades over time, and this degradation is strongly affected by factors such as operating current and temperature.

Low maintenance
The long lifetime of LEDs reduces the need to replace failed lamps, and this can lead to significant financial and environmental savings, particularly in maintenance, labour and recycling. This makes LED fixtures useful for installations in inaccessible locations, but if tasks like cleaning the fixture are required, then the light sources could be replaced at the same time, negating the “low maintenance” advantage.

Efficiency
As a semiconductor device, LEDs are highly efficient. Current device technology is allowing the performance of these to be pushed to limits that exceed that of standard lighting.
The directional nature of light produced by LEDs allows the design of luminaires with higher overall efficiency.

Low power consumption
The low power consumption of LEDs leads to large energy savings that can often drive the installation of LED-based systems. Initial purchase costs start off higher, but can be proven to return the investment cost in a short period of time.

Brightness
Light outputs are constantly being increased and there are several products that have higher lumen output than traditional lighting.

Heat
LEDs do not produce heat in the form of infrared radiation (IR) unlike incandescent bulbs which makes them hot to the touch.
This lack of heat production allows LED fixtures to be used in locations where heating from conventional sources would cause a particular problem e.g. illuminating food, textiles, artifacts, etc.
However, LEDs do produce heat at the semiconductor junction within the device and good thermal management must be employed on high power devices to maintain operation life

Cost
In many applications, LEDs are expensive compared with other light sources, when measured by metrics such as “£-per-lumen”.
LED manufacturers continue to work towards reducing their production costs while at the same time increasing the light output of their devices.
However, the high initial cost of LED-based systems is offset by lower energy consumption, lower maintenance costs and other factors.
The initial cost may seem high, but take into account the electricity usage that is saved, they pay for themselves.

Electricity Cost savings from switching to LED Direct replacement bulbs
10W LED Bulbs Vs 75W bulb running cost comparison

Small form-factors
LEDs are very small - typical high-brightness LED chips measure 0.3 mm by 0.3 mm, while high-power devices can be 1 mm x 1 mm or larger. There are many examples where the availability of small, high-brightness devices have enabled significant market advancement. The obvious example is in mobile phone handsets, where blue, green and white LEDs are now used in most models to back light keypads and liquid-crystal display (LCD) screens.

Instantaneous switch-on
LEDs switch on rapidly, even when cold, and this is a particular advantage for certain applications such as vehicle brake lights.

Colour
LEDs are available in a broad range of brilliant, saturated colours (although performance varies across the spectrum), and white devices are also available. Modules containing different colored LEDs (typically red, green and blue, or RGB) can be tuned to a huge range of colours, and easily dimmed. RGB modules provide a much wider gamut of colours than white LEDs or other traditional white light sources, which is a particular advantage in applications such as backlighting liquid-crystal displays (LCD’s).

RGB LEDs and colour mixing
LED characteristics change with time, temperature and current, and from device to device. For RGB LEDs, the performance of different colored devices changes at different rates. This can result in variation of lamp colour and intensity, and poor reproducibility.

LED Vs Halogen


LED Lighting Types

Now the LED bulbs are widely applied in household, office, street, shop, park etc for decoration and lightings LED lighting family mainly includes:
1. LED ball lamp
2. LED spot lamp
3. LED ground lamp
4. LED tube light
5. LED rope lamp
6. LED pool lamp
7. LED curtain lamp
8. LED Christmas (festival) lamp
9. LED ceiling lamp
10. LED road light
11. LED Solar light
Etc.

In a word, LED lightings will be the future of lighting, and it will definitely replace the halogen lights in soon future.

Increasingly consumers are turning their eyes towards LED house lights as a way to conserve electricity. But will you really achieve the greatest savings by buying this still expensive lighting now? Or would you be better off to save your money for the time being, or to buy other energy-efficient light bulbs, and use the money you save in electricity to buy LED house lights down the road?

You have most likely seen LEDs before: camping headlamps, LED Christmas tree lights, wind-up emergency torches. How about LED house lights? If LEDs are so efficient, why aren’t manufacturers lining up to sell LED lights for the home, and why aren’t we lining up to buy them?

I wouldn’t try to sell you on LED lights as a solution to high utility bills or as the most ecologically beneficial lighting solution around. Frankly, I think LEDs have a ways to go yet, in terms of function, durability, and economy. There are some LED products you should consider over the next year, such as LED Christmas lights. And you might enjoy trying out a couple of LED light bulbs, if you’re the energy-saving type. But you are going to save more money by keeping with your current lighting, and migrating to fluorescent lights in the next year or so. Compact fluorescent lights, or CFLs, have a payback so short that they’ll pay for themselves before LEDs have matured enough to make CFLs out of date.

LED light bulbs are more efficient than incandescent or fluorescent lighting. The problem is that LEDs have very directed light. An incandescent light shines over a wide area fairly evenly, while LED lights are very focused, so that the area they directly illuminate is very bright, while the further you go from the direct beam, the less light there is. For LED Christmas lights, that isn’t a problem; you just want some shining points of light, which LEDs do very efficiently. But an incandescent or CFL will do a much better job of brightening up your living room than an LED bulb in the same application. The light will be more evenly and broadly spread, and with a warmer color.

When you see LED packaging claims of LED light output, you should be doubtful. A number in Lumens, which indicates light brightness, is misleading for LEDs, because of their focused beam. Lumens levels are read from a sensor placed right underneath the light source. A household LED light bulb at 2 watts may have the same lumens rating as a 50 watt halogen bulb, or as a 15 watt CFL, but the LED lamp may only send a focused light directly under it to the photo sensor, while the incandescent light and CFL will light up a much broader area, and still give that same lumens rating for the area immediately beneath the bulb. This may be the source of a frequent negative comment among LED owners, such as: “The packaging claims this 2-watt LED bulb has the same light output as a 50-watt incandescent bulb but it feels more like a 25-watt incandescent if you ask me.”

When it comes to halogen lights, they are only as efficient as incandescent lights, so the same efficiency considerations apply here. But since halogen lights are typically much more direct than incandescent bulbs, LED lights that are designed to replace halogen lights are both more efficient than the halogens they replace, and work well for the direct light that halogen bulbs provide. You can find LED replacement bulbs for the most common halogen fixtures such as GU10 and MR13, and this may be a good place to start the switchover.

LED house light designers work around the issue of the narrow beam of a single LED, by building household LED light bulbs that are a collection of individual LEDs, with each diode aimed at a different angle, so that a wider area is highly illuminated. This increases the area of full light coverage of an LED light. However very few such bulbs provide the breadth of area coverage of existing incandescent bulbs or CFLs and at the same time are bright enough.

Where LED lights outshine existing bulbs is as replacements for lighting that is (or should be) highly directed. For example, a light in a narrow hallway, where the chief point of the light is to show people their way down the hall, would be a good application for LEDs.

Task lighting is another example of an application where LEDs shine. Why light up your entire work room if all you need to see is the tools on the work bench right before your eyes? A couple of LED bulbs hanging above the work area will do the trick nicely. But you can only cost-justify this in energy savings if you live half your life in the workroom.

LED light bulbs are, in theory at least, very durable, when compared to incandescent bulbs and compact fluorescent bulbs. LED bulb life ranges from 35,000 to 200,000 hours, compared to 1,000 hours for a good incandescent light, and 8,000 hours for a CFL. But I have seen many consumer ratings of LED bulbs that report burn-out within a few days of being switched on. Clearly there are some quality problems still to be worked on - yet another good reason for holding off a couple of years before switching wholesale to LEDs.

Whether LEDs will really live up to their long lasting billing remains to be seen - even the 35,000 hour ones would need to be on 24×7 for 4 years before they come close to reaching their advertised range. And LED lights do dim with age - so while a bulb might have a lifetime of 35,000 hours, it won’t emit its starting light level for the full 35,000 hours - the older it gets, the less light it will emit. LED lights do decline progressively in light intensity and therefore in efficiency, although they will still be more efficient than either CFLs or incandescent bulbs throughout their life.

The “color temperature” of a light bulb, measured in ‘degrees Kelvin’, determines human visual response to its light. You are probably comfortable with the yellowish glow of incandescents at around 2800 Kelvin (2800K), even though fluorescent lighting is closer to the natural daylight temperature of 6000K. Any LED with a temperature of 6000K or higher will seem bluish, and any LED with a color temperature above 4000K will appear whiter than an incandescent bulb.

While homeowners are typically worried about how fluorescent or LED lights can make their rooms look blinding white instead of the comforting yellow glow provided by incandescent bulbs, you should remember that a little sacrifice in color temperature will put a big dent in your electricity bill. Be a trend-setter, not a trend-follower - start converting your home lighting to true daylight colors, whether with CFL lights or LED light bulbs. You will be helping your family and friends to switch over, when they find out they won’t be the only ones with a slightly bluer light hue in their homes.

Whether you switch a few of your lights to LED lights now, or let the technology and reliability improve, you can count on the fact that LEDs will play an increasing role in lighting our houses in the years ahead. I personally think it makes sense to wait, except in certain special lighting situations where the direct, high-color-temperature light of LEDs is what you’re after, and where money is no object. If you just want to save money - or to cut your energy use for environmental reasons - an equal amount of money spent on CFLs, or most other energy efficiency upgrades, will cut your energy bills and carbon footprint more than buying the LED lights now available.

This article assumes you are already convinced about going ‘LED’ but want some specific product ideas. In this article I would like to present 3 general product categories that can be used to begin your transition to LED lighting. Each idea is going to have more than one product possibility that can be tailored to your exact needs. Also, each individual product itself may various options. We will discuss some of these options and how you should go about selecting each. This is important as LEDs are a new technology and not everyone knows what options are available or even exactly how to choose them.

The first product category is LED PAR Lights. The word PAR is an abbreviation for parabolic reflector. This is actually not applicable to LEDs since they have lenses and are no longer dependent on reflectors to create directional light. In fact the lenses on LED lights are much more efficient than reflectors. LED light is directional and can be controlled precisely with the use of lenses. As long as we are talking about lenses that is going to be the first thing you will have to make a choice on. LED PAR lights can be purchased with various lens angles. Usually you will have choices like 30, 45, and 60 degree lenses. The lens controls the angle of the light. The tighter the angle the more concentrated the light, and the wider the angle the more diffuse the light, but a greater area will be illuminated. A 45 degree angle is possibly most all purpose but aesthetically, and mathematically thirds are nicer or a 60 or 30 degree angle. Use 60 for general purpose and 30 for spotlighting.

Next when you order a PAR light you would have to select the color. One of the advantages of LEDs is that you can select precisely the color of the light. Common options are warm white 2,800 – 3,800K, commercial white 4,000 – 5,000K, and pure white 6,000 – 6,500K. Each color has its advantages depending on the situation. Warm white is best for creating atmosphere, while pure white is a bit brighter and produces more lumens per Watt. For security lighting you would use pure white, for a bar most likely warm white.

Finally, in the case of LED PAR lights you would have to select the number of Watts. I generally advise multiplying by 5 to 10 when comparing to incandescents. So a 5 Watt LED is like a 25 – 50 Watt incandescent. Technically the number should be 5 but in addition to producing more light LEDs focus it better, and this can increase the multiple to about 10. When making your selections keep in mind it is difficult to stock every possibility. If you want commercial white with a 45 degree lens you may have to put in a request. Try to plan in advance slightly, and the extra wait is well worth it.

The next category is LED recessed lights. LED recessed lights offer similar options on color and lens angle. In the case of ceiling lights you would have to choose the number of LEDs. Common is 3 Watt LEDs so for example you could get lights with 3 LEDs for 9 Watts or 5 LEDs for 15 Watts and so on. You can use the above multiplication to decide on the number of lights. LED recessed lights generally come in their own housing and so are easy to install. LEDs do not produce much heat, but remember to not put insulation directly on top of the light. I don’t think you were going to do that. LED recessed lights can have adjustable heads and hardened glass coverings. Using a grid of such lights to light a large area can create a nice effect. Properly placed LED recessed lights can be a nice addition to your home lighting.

Finally, I would like to briefly mention light bars, and light strips. These can be used for accent lighting, cabinet lighting, and wall lighting. Again properly placed these can be used to achieve some very nice effects. If you are designing a new addition to your house you may want to use light bars or light strips to highlight the features or add a more subtle lighting.

Green Builder hardware association are those government as well as private bodies that monitor as well as promote sustainable building along with providing information on green builder manufacturers, green building suppliers and manufacturing associations and professional associations in all sectors of the green building industry. These associations provides and shares resources and various technologies to aid in the designing of high environmental standards that includes minimizing energy requirements, reducing water consumption, using building materials of low environmental impact, reducing wastage, conserving the natural environment and safeguard human health and well being.

Countries all over the world have configured their own set of rules and standards of efficiency for green building. These organizations play an active role in facilitating the learning process between the members and thus help the building industry in avoiding the hazardous impact on non green buildings. The green building hardware association have access to international network and they use their resources to bring together all the representatives of the green hardware industry and further expand its growth among the member companies. The advantages of these trade associations is that they provide source of technical expertize and focus on maintaining the green standards of the global green building industry. While browsing through these trade associations one can gather fruitful information on the latest happenings in the green industry. Promoting and sensitizing the building hardware manufacturers about the environmental impacts of green building is the key aim of these green building associations.

Following is the list of some of the most popular green builder associations across the globe -

US Green Building Council is a non profit community of leaders that works with the aim of making green buildings available for every generation. This 15 years old organization is the prime association among the green building trade associations and also license some of the other organisations that run on similar pattern.

Builders Owners & Managers Association, of Canada manages the building environment standards along with certification, along with replacing their Go Green and Go Green Plus programs.

The New Zealand Green Building Council, provide the construction industry with an objective measurement for green buildings and to recognize and reward environmental leadership in the property industry.

UK Green Building Council, was launched in February 2007 and aims at providing sustainable building environment by radically transforming the way it is planned, designed, constructed, maintained and operated. The participation list in this membership council includes businesses, NGOs, academic institutions and government agencies.

Sustainability Practitioners Association was formed in July 2004 by 14 consultants working in different areas of sustainability. Based in Australia, the vision of this green council is to endure, high impact association to connect and help in developing Australian sustainability practitioners.

Micro-hydro Basics
Canada and many other countries depend on large-scale hydro developments for electricity.
Most machines that make electricity need some form of mechanical energy to get things started. Mechanical energy spins the generator to make the electricity. In the case of hydroelectricity, the mechanical energy comes from large volumes of falling water. For more than 100 years, the simplest way to produce the volumes of falling water needed to make electricity has been to build a dam. A dam stops the natural flow of a river, building up a deep reservoir behind it. However, large dams and reservoirs are not always appropriate, especially in the more ecologically sensitive areas of the planet.

Micro-hydro systems can provide clean, environmentally friendly electricity in rural communities.
For making small amounts of electricity without building a dam, the small-scale hydroelectric generator is often the best solution, especially where fast-flowing streams on steep slopes are close by. A small-scale hydro system usually consists of an enclosed water wheel or turbine, which is made to spin by jets of high-velocity water. The water is taken from the stream and moved down slope to the turbine through a long pipe called a penstock. Water flowing through the penstock picks up speed, and is directed at the blades of the turbine by nozzles. The turbine spins continuously, as long as there is water to drive it. The turbine is connected to an electrical generator, and the electricity is then available for running appliances or charging batteries. The spent water is returned to the stream. This kind of system is called a “micro-hydro” system, “run-of-stream hydro” or “low-impact hydro.”

In this activity, you will use plastic spoons to build a model of a simple micro-hydro system. It generates surprising amounts of electricity, provided you have a supply of pressurized water, such as from a lab sink. This model closely resembles real micro-hydro designs, and can produce enough electricity to light a small light bulb.

Making electricity
The completed micro-hydro turbine.
We are surrounded by hundreds of appliances that use electricity to do work. But what is electricity? Basically, electricity is a flow of electrons in a metal wire, or some other conductor. Electrons are tiny particles found inside atoms, one of the basic building blocks of all matter. We call the flow of electrons through any conductor a “current of electricity.”

Each electron carries a tiny negative charge. When electrons move through a conductor, they produce an invisible field of magnetic force, similar to that found around a magnet. The strength of that field depends on how many electrons are in motion. You can concentrate this field by winding the wire in which the electrons move into a tight coil with many turns. This causes many more electrons to be in motion in a small space, resulting in a stronger field. If you then place a piece of iron in the middle of the coil, the electromagnetic field will turn the iron into a powerful magnet.

While it is true that electrons moving through a conductor produce a magnetic field, the reverse is also true. You can make electrons move in a wire by “pushing” them with a moving magnet, which is how an electrical generator works. Electrical generators usually contain powerful magnets that rotate very close to dense coils of insulated wire. The coils develop a flow of electrons that becomes an electrical current when the generator is connected to an electric circuit.

You will be building an electrical generator as part of this project. It uses moving magnets to create a current of electricity in coils of wire. This generator is technically called an alternator because the electrons move back and forth in the wire, rather than flowing in just one direction as they do from a battery. A meter connected to the wire would show that the charge of the wire switches or alternates between positive and negative as the electrons change directions. Such an electrical current is called alternating current or AC. Household electrical current is alternating current. Appliances have to be specially designed to use it. The other type of current is called direct current, because the electrons move in one direction only. Most battery-powered appliances such as calculators and portable CD players use direct current.

Safety Precautions
* Electric drills can cause serious eye and hand injuries. Eye protection is required, and leather gloves are recommended when drilling small parts such as corks. A cork borer can be used as a substitute but it also has risks for injury.

* Hot glue guns can cause superficial burns. Be sure glue guns are warmed up only when needed, and unplugged immediately after. Hot glue can stick to skin and clothing.

* Utility knives can be hazardous. Expose only as much blade as you need to cut the material, and fully retract the blade when not it’s not in use.

Build It!

(Click to continue to the construction plans)

Test It!
Testing with water
The Pembina Institute
If all has gone well with your construction, this turbine should be able to produce significant amounts of electricity, depending on the speed of the water striking the spoons.

1. Place the neck of the plastic container under a faucet and turn on the water. The rotor should spin quickly!

2. Connect your micro-hydro turbine to a multi-meter and set the dial to read volts of alternating current. Measure the voltage generated by the operating turbine.