Renewable Energy At Home

I am planning to buy a 500 watts power supply, but at the same time i want to conserve energy. Does a 500 watts power supplies uses 500 watts every time i run a computer? It means that it can distribute a max of 500 watts of DC power to the computer at 1 time. [...]

And fossil fuel in general? Rush and some others can go on and on about how good it is. I think alternative energy is a good idea if only for the fact that it can divorce us from middle east politics. I understand that part of it is to push the left's buttons which can [...]

What are engineering challenges to develop solar energy for comfort/home uses? Solar is an old technology now and is fairly developed. Cost is a bit of a barrier but that is coming down quickly. Production scale could also be considered a barrier, as the industry can’t yet make enough solar panels to satisfy demand. The [...]

I want to install solar panels in my roof and most installers don't recommend any particular brand. Do you have experience with any particular brand that has worked for you or anybody you know? Does the brand of the panel make a difference? I' talking about photovoltaic panels. I'm interested in connecting to the grid [...]

I’m not saying I’m against renewable energy. I’m just wondering – what would everybody do with their car that runs on regular gas? I think we are a long way from renewable energy replacing the combustion engine. When I think of renewable energy I think of electricity for houses and businesses. But when we do [...]

I need a few examples of alternative energy and what it is. Alternative energy is a term that refers to methods of generating energy that are not the usual method (i.e. fossil fuels). There are many forms of alternative energy, but, as energy is conserved, you have to ask yourself where the energy comes from [...]

An office complex needs an escalator that can carry people, at a constant speed of 0.6 m/s at 35o slope. Calculate the maximum number of persons, each weighing 80 kg, if the maximum power input to the elevator is 10.8 kW. What power would be required if the escalator has to carry twice the number [...]

a) strong breast muscles and wings. b) aerodynamic feathers and lightweight bones. c) divided ventricle and air sacs in lungs. d) endothermic metabolism and fused bones. Don’t listen to Cee, the answer is not D). If birds had fused bones they wouldn’t be able to move, and endothermic means that their metabolic reactions would absorb [...]

I know that solar energy is energy from the sun converted into elctrical energy and all that great stuff, but if you heat a sheet of flashing copper, put it in the sun and it makes a little more energy than it did in the shade, is that thermal or solar energy OK I think [...]

I have made a wind generator out of cheap, everyday materials. Is it possible to make solar panels for generating electricity from everyday materials, perhaps something like a thermocouple with two different metals? Not unless you can figure out a way to produce a semi-conductor at home. Basically a solar cell (photovoltaic cell) is a [...]