Wednesday, January 7, 2009

New Idea....

So I have been thinking about my new addiction and have a few ideas.

One thing I was thinking is reviewing some projects out there, constructing them, documenting them, and posting my findings on a new blog. (I figure this is for the most part a tech blog, so until I find a way to merge them, I think I should keep them separate.)

One other thing I'd like to do is to have something community based. Now when I say "community based" that can be for the most part anything. What I was thinking was...... Most people know about digg.com. Well...my thought is to create a site model after digg and devote it to Alternative energy.

The site could be broken down as following:

Alternative energy articles
Green ideas
How to's
Reviews
Design
And anything else that would contribute to the community (possibly even a forum.)

People would vote for the best content, and that would make it to the front page. I wouldn't want it to be a popularity contest as much as I want it to be based more on content. The more good content there is, the easier it will be to get the word out!

So, there ya go! That's my idea. So what's everyone's thoughts on this? Do I have any volunteers that would would like to help/contribute to these ideas? Anyone out there who might want to run with this idea himself? I could see a good possible revenue stream in something like this.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Excited about Green Power Science!

So Now What?

Not to long ago I went on a preparedness spree. Due to the economy I thought..."Well maybe I should get some supplies just to be on the safe side."
Needless to say I went nuts. Most folks I spoke to thought I was nuts for buying everything I did....heck...even my wife questioned it. However its like I told all of them...."I would much rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it!"

So a couple weeks ago there was a nice little ice storm in my area (new england area)that took out the electricity for oh...a little over a week. Oh....but not to worry...myself and my family were very well prepared!

So What Happen?

So when everything came down during the ice storm we did very well. Better than most! And for the folks that thought I was nuts..... Well lets just say they were happy I was around. (To be honest everyone brought something to the table, it was a community effort.)

To be honest I had a good time during that outage, and the best part is I learned where I could improve.

So What did you Learn?

Well to keep us warm we were using a kerosene heater. The only downer is there is only one local place that sells kerosene. Now I know most people would think...well big deal....
The problem with this is that most gas stations during the outage were also down. We were lucky that this one wasn't. So here is weak point #1

For electric we used the typical generator. (Weak spot again.) Even though we had a generator we didn't have any running water.. We used sump pump water for our toilets, and lots of Purell for hand washing. So another point to improve on.

Ok..So Now What?

I started to look into solar hot air collectors again (I have been wanting to build one for a long time now) and other alternatives... That is when I found this dude doing some crazy stuff.(Dan Rojas of Green Power Science) He reminded me of myself as a kid with a Magnifying glass melting my lego city's.

He was using a Fresnel lens to
boil water, melt glass, melt steal, and all sorts of cool stuff....It wasn't until I saw the video of him in a swamp scooping up some water saying he'd end up drinking that water by the end of the video. I was thinking two things....First...that's sick, second...the dude is AWESOME!! So from there I looked at his videos and became more intrigued.

This guy got me so excited about alternative energy. It seems to be my new addiction!

No lie....I have been driving my wife nuts, and doing research to about 2 AM every night for the past week. If I could spend a week with this guy to learn and geek-out with... I'd be in geek glory!

The very cool thing about Dan Rojas of Green Power Science is he shows you how you can make most of these things with everyday items for the average Joe. He shows and explains everything from creating a boiler, Making a perfect circle on a table saw, making a Parabolic mirror, and much, much more. All very cool stuff I promise!!

He reminds me of Mr. Wizards world only for alternative energy. Fun to learn, and giving a little bit of inspiration at the same time. (This guy needs his own cable show!)

So Now What Ya Gonna Do?

Well watch more of Dan's videos, study, ask lots of questions.

I now have a lot of projects I want to do. One being the solar hot air collector, (Designs, engineering, and more designs) a windmill or two, and maybe a few solar cells. I also have a few other side projects that will be more for fun/educational purposes. (build a Tesla Turbine, and a sterling engine (Once again something Dan is doing)

So when ya gonna start?

Well I am gonna use my shed as a pilot. So I started to get it ready, but wont be able to do much until spring. (no real room). My first project will be a hot air collector, (need to find high Temp materials, don't want any construction fatigue). From there I think I will move onto a wind mill.

Well that's it for now. I will keep you posted on my test subjects, but in the in the meantime why don't you stop over at Green Power Science and tell Dan Hitechgeek says hi! He's an awesome resource, and I highly suggest checking him out!