Archive for 2008

Solar Power Information Resource

7/23/2008, 10:58 pm, General

I gathered this information when I was trying to make a living selling residential solar systems. The job didn’t agree with me but this information is still valid. Check it out

Internal Rate of Return tutorial http://hspm.sph.sc.edu/COURSES/ECON/irr/irr.html

Solar time of Use (local copy) A paper about Electricity Rate Structures and the Economics of Solar PV: Could Mandatory Time-of-Use Rates Undermine California’s Solar Photovoltaic Subsidies? – shown to Lee by his neighbor Oren Ahoobim

Federal Information Sources

  • SEIA Solar Roadmap(local) – Notably on page 7 it shows that they think solar prices will decrease slowly. No great breakthrough on the horizon.
  • http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/rea_issues/contents.html http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/rea_issues/incent.html#intro I think this talks about long term net metering contracts. IE:

    Under PURPA, utilities are required to purchase electricity from QFs at the utilities’ “avoided cost.” (11) The Federal government, in formulating regulations, often delegates implementation to the States. This occurred with PURPA, as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) delegated the authority for the determination of avoided cost to the States. In several States including California, avoided cost purchase contracts were very favorable to non-utility generators. For example, between 1982 and 1988, Standard Offer 4 (SO4) contracts written in California allowed QFs to sell renewable energy under 15-to-30 year terms.

Source

Additionally, the new law makes a credit available to those who add qualified solar panels, solar water heating equipment, or a fuel cell power plant to their homes in the United States. In general, a qualified fuel cell power plant converts a fuel into electricity using electrochemical means, has an electricity—only generation efficiency of more than 30 percent and generates at least 0.5 kilowatts of electricity. Taxpayers are allowed one credit equal to 30 percent of the qualified investment in a solar panel up to a maximum credit of $2,000, and another equivalent credit for investing in a solar water heating system. No part of either system can be used to heat a pool or hot tub. … These items must be placed in service after Dec. 31, 2005 and before Jan. 1, 2008.

30% tax credit… $2,000 for a PV system and $2,000 for solar water heating

[edit] IRS Form 3468

  • IRS form 3468 for 2005 Taxes Use Form 3468 to claim the investment credit. The investment credit consists of the rehabilitation, energy, qualifying advanced coal project, and qualifying gasification project credits.

A very important tax form. Print the whole thing out and read.

There is mention of a credit for using solar illumination

? Increased the energy percentage from 10 to 30% for solar property placed in service after December 31, 2005.

There is mention of a credit for property that generates solar or geothermal power

For purposes of line 2, solar energy property is equipment that uses solar energy to: ? Generate electricity,? Heat or cool (or provide hot water for use in) a structure, or ? Provide solar process heat (but not to heat a swimming pool).

solar energy property includes solar energy property as defined in the line 2 instructions and equipment which uses solar energy to illuminate the inside of a structure using fiber-optic distributed sunlight.

California State Information Sources

Calculators

Other (and unsorted) Information Sources

  • Good Book: “Got Sun? Go Solar” by Rex A Ewing and Doug Pratt. Excellent book. Practical. Covers the generalities very well.

Stuff from Charlotte

Media/publications

Rating systems

Economics

Campus initiatives

  • (book) Procurement Guide for Renewable Energy Systems IREC & U.S. EPA, 1997, 104 p. $15.00 The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), in cooperation with the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Sandia National Laboratories, has developed this handbook to guide state and local government procurement officials in the specification and purchase of commercially available renewable energy systems. Includes basic information about renewable energy, product specifications, schematic designs and photos, installation details, and a directory of a wide variety of photovoltaics, solar water heating systems, and small wind generating systems.
  • (the local chapter of The American Solar Energy Society) Northern California Solar Energy Association (NorCal Solar) P.O. Box 3008 Berkeley, CA 94703 P: (510) 869-2759 e-mail: info@norcalsolar.org web site: http://www.norcalsolar.org Executive Director: Liz Merry
  • http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p505.pdf
  • Agricultural Biomass to Energy Program
  • Alameda County – Million Solar Roofs Partnership
  • Anaheim Public Utilities – Green Power for the Grid
  • Anaheim Public Utilities – PV Buydown Program
  • Bay Area Solar Consortium – Million Solar Roofs Partnership
  • California Clean Energy Partnership (CCEP) – Million Solar Roofs Partnership
  • California Property Tax Exemption for Solar Systems
  • City of Palo Alto Utilities – Palo Alto Green
  • City of Santa Monica – Green Power Purchasing
  • City of Santa Monica – PV Ferris Wheel & SolarPort
  • Emerging Renewables (Rebate) Program
  • LADWP – Green Power for a Green LA
  • Los Angeles – Green Power Purchasing
  • Marin Solar Program – Million Solar Roofs Partnership
  • Net Metering
  • Renewable Resources Trust Fund
  • Renewables Portfolio Standard
  • Retail Electricity Disclosure Program and Green Labeling
  • Roseville Electric – Green Energy
  • SMUD – Community Solar(SM)
  • SMUD – GreenergySM
  • San Diego – Million Solar Roofs Partnership
  • San Francisco – Million Solar Roofs Partnership
  • San Francisco Public Utilities Commission – Million Solar Roofs Partnership
  • Solar or Wind Energy System Credit – Corporate
  • Solar or Wind Energy System Credit – Personal

Source

  • US Department of Energy: Department of Efficiency and Renewable Energy
  • http://Millionsolarroofs.org
  • Seattle Regional Office Heather Mulligan, 800 5th Ave, Suite 3950, Seattle, WA 98104, ph: 206-553-7693
  • Alameda County Solar Partnership
  • City of Humboldt
  • Marin Coounty MSR
  • City of Sacramento
  • Bay Area Solar Consortium
  • Whatcom 1000 Solar Rooftop Project

And if all that fails, try getting Energy Film low e film. You could save 15% on your energy bills. Lasts 10 years. DIY. Costs $40 for a 4’x7′ sheet, maybe $500 for a whole house instead of $12,000 to install low-e windows. Energy Film blocks out 70% of solar heat in summer, retains 38% of escaping heat in winter and blocks 97% of UV rays while still allowing 77% of natural light into a room.

Category: General  |  Comment

Handgun Guide for Men and Women

7/23/2008, 4:37 pm, General

A while back I was considering getting a handgun. I wanted it to be easy to handle for both myself and my girlfriend. I decided on the Beretta 92FS. Actually, the box tells me that it’s a Beretta M9, the same thing with different markings.

I was a little disappointed because although the Springfield XD9 is very sexy, the grip is too large for my dainty woman’s hands. No matter, the Beretta is a fine handgun.

For your pleasure, here’s some links and research I did in buying the gun…

*   Charlotte talked with a very nice female cop, she recommended Glock47, Glock 27, Glock 26. And to check the website for Kahr arms …..LC action drop down menus on weapons….. Weapons for women…..

* Beretta 92FS. $575 The official handgun of the US Armed Forces

* Beretta 92FS Vertec site reads “good for small handed shooters”(?)

* Springfield XD9 4″ $500 grip safety but no thumb safety. Inexpensive, comes with case, 2 magazines. Green bi-tone is pretty.

* Springfield 1911-A1 9 MM. Model PI9134L   Thumb safety, grip safety, more expensive, single stack

* Smith & Wesson 3913 recommended by http://www.womenandguns.com/wfn/somany.html

* Browning HiPower recommended by http://www.womenandguns.com/wfn/somany.html

Other info

At Jackson Arms, Monday night is Ladies Night (1/2 price for Ladies). They have Berretta 92 and Springfield XD9 but they’re both broken :-(. Call back in a few weeks.

Use http://gunbroker.com to figure street price

Maybe buy a gun from On Target Guns & Accessories in Ukiah CA 707-462-8513

Maybe buy a gun bag from http://Tommysgunpack.com. They are often at local gun shows

Maybe call these ranges looking to rent handguns or to shoot at

http://www.corneredcat.com – A great site with info like how to rack a pistol if you aren’t strong and how to dry fire and such. And it’s pink!

http://www.pistolprowess.com/Choosing_a_Pistol.htm Double-action / Single-Action (like on the Beretta 92FS) is bad: “With a DA/SA gun not one but two different trigger pulls must be learned. Novice shooters often pull their first shot low as a result of the heavy DA trigger”

“Typically “single stack”, designs such as the 1911 models work well for shooters with small hands”

http://www.womenandguns.com A good site, check out the forums too.

http://www.sightm1911.com The M9, Beretta 92 F, has the smoothest slide and the lightest recoil spring of any major caliber pistol I know

Good for small hands ParaOrdnance 18-9 (according to: http://womenandguns.servertalk.in/womenandguns-ftopic850-0-asc-15.html)

http://womenandguns.servertalk.in/womenandguns-ftopic850.html

To reduce recoil, don’t get porting; it’s louder and has more flash, which could temporarily blind you consider getting Shok-Buff (http://www.wilsoncombat.com/a_shokbuff.asp) instead

Category: General  |  6 Comments

Psychos in Love

7/23/2008, 2:33 pm, Reading, Watching, Listening

Speaking of classic movies, Psychos in Love is an all-time favorite of mine.

That is the VHS tape I used to own. Since I don’t have a VHS player any more, I figured I’d spread the love and wait for it to come out on DVD. :-)

Category: Reading, Watching, Listening  |  3 Comments

QBOX Events Mailing List

7/22/2008, 9:06 am, Art, Geekery

I just took over administrating the QBOX Events mailing list. Laughing Squid is apparently getting out of the Mailman mailing list business.

This from the mailing list itself:

Charles Gadeken charlie@NOSPAMcellspace.org
Wed, 08 May 2002 16:51:13 -0700 (PDT)

Welcome to the QBOX list. This list is managed by Charlie Gadeken, if you have
any questions about how you ended up on this list feel free to ask me.
charlie@NOSPAMqbox.org If you do not want to be on this mailing list please follow the
link at the bottom of this message and unsubscribe yourself. 

This is the very first mailing for this new list. Many of you were on the My Old
Burningart Presents list, some of you are just my friends, others have requested
to be on this list directly. 

On the list you will hear about Events focused on mechanical, kinetic and
electronic art in the Bay Area. I expect to send out about one or two mailings a
month. All of these posts will be related to performance events, lectures and
gallery shows that support mechanical, kinetic and electronic art in the Bay
Area. I will be sending out an announcement for a show this Sunday "Power Tool
Drag Race after Party" which will follow this message.

Thank you for listening and i look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming
events. 

charlie gadeken
director: QBOX
http://www.qbox.org

You can subscribe to the list via qbox.org or here.

Category: Art, Geekery  |  Comment

Time Barbarians

7/20/2008, 6:12 pm, Reading, Watching, Listening

5 Stars. Up there with Deathstalker. Not quite Evil Dead, but fun. I want to see this movie played at Bad Movie Night at the Dark Room. It was just wonderful/awful. I appreciate all the good that this movie has to offer.

Category: Reading, Watching, Listening  |  1 Comment

Farewell, My Subaru

7/20/2008, 11:55 am, Reading, Watching, Listening

I just finished reading “Farewell, My Subaru” by Doug Fine.

I don’t like his writing style at all. He mixes exaggeration, humor, and supposed facts such that you can never tell what is true. He’ll be narrating about what he is doing, standing working on a project and then mention someone that has apparently been standing next to him for the last hour, only we did not know.

He throws in these stupid “facts” all over the place in pull-outs that piss me off. For example on page 139 he is talking about that toxic purple PVC cement used to join water pipes and he interjects

A Finnish Company called Uponor makes a piping material called Aquapex that “doesn’t leach toxics into your water”…

That’s wonderful except that the pipes are made with polyethylene which might be less toxic… or not. So he is implying that there is a better, safer product only he’s not using it. He doesn’t explain why.

On page 152 there is another pull-out

Farmers in Virginia are testing poultry waste as a biofuel.

Of course what he is trying to imply is that chicken crap should be used as fuel instead of oil. The trouble is, they can test all they want, until those Virgina farmers make a viable, affordable fuel, he’s not saying anything.

Like most wide-eyed, staunch liberals, he puts a lot of blame on others. He talks at great length as to how WalMart is the enemy but his reasons come down to, “Because it’s WalMart, man!” To be fair, he also talks about the long distances the products travel to market and the Chinese people employed in their manufacture. I’d say that 1-Transportation fuel is currently relatively cheap, otherwise we wouldn’t import from China. 2-All those Chinese would be out-of work if we didn’t buy their products.

I was happy to see that at the end of the book, his suggestions for a better future didn’t come down as if from a manifesto but from a heartfelt desire to do the right thing. He gave some useful, if obvious suggestions to help keep local economies local.

Farewell, My Subaru paraphrased:

Live on a farm, it’ll be an adventure. Drive a vegetable oil powered car, while I know it won’t go too far to saving the world, it’ll be an adventure. If you have the space, getting a solar powered water heater works pretty good (and it’ll be an adventure). Solar electric is expensive but works pretty good. Owning goats and chickens is an adventure. Buy local, make what you can local, you’ll be better for it.

Category: Reading, Watching, Listening  |  Comment

Spam Karma: so long and thanks for all the fish

7/20/2008, 11:04 am, Wordpress

Dave, the author of the terrific-fantastic-makes-blog-comments-possible-I’ve-donated-to Spam Karma has decided to call it quits on the project. He’s opened it up as GPL. I certainly hope that someone picks up the slack. Here is Spam Karma GPL edition.

Category: Wordpress  |  Comment

Installed WordPress 2.6, Problems

7/19/2008, 2:44 pm, Wordpress

Slightly prettier.

Google Gears helps mitigate the slowness of all the freaking modal windows they keep putting in. Note I say “helps”. Modal windows are bad for performance. This isn’t a heavyweight application, it’s just moving text around. It should be lightning fast. It used to be. :-(

There are changes to how images are uploaded but still no performance improvements. In version 2.3, it took 1 click and 1 drag to insert an image exactly how you want it, in 2.5 and 2.6, you’ve got to jump through several hoops. See here and here. And there is no word on whether Flexible Upload will be getting an update. If I were the author, I would be tired of making updates.

Annoyances:

When writing a post, the title of the post is automatically set the few seconds after you leave the Title window. That makes it a bother to change the title.

Fucking modal windows while uploading images. In version 2.3 you could upload images while writing the post, then drag the image into place. Now it’s a multi-window, multi-step process. This really pisses me off

You must scroll down to the Categories section at the end of every post. Why isn’t it on the right side of the screen where all of this new useless crap is sitting? (I just noticed that the Press This thingamajig uses the old Categories-on-the-side layout)

Feh.

Followup! Arg! The jerks broke WYSIWYG image layout.

Another Followup: In order to be WordPress 2.6 compatible, I found that my CSS stylesheet has to support alignleft, alignright, and centered. Aparently “align=right” isn’t good enough any more. So I added some image code that I borrowed from the White as Milk 1.8 theme.

So many auto-save post revisions

Yet Another Followup: Lester Chan is correct in saying that Post Revisions in WordPress have very little utility and clutter up the database. This very post already has 16 revisions. In other words, the post you are looking at is taking up more space in the database than my previous 3 weeks of blogging combined. That is not right. (one major reason for all the revisions is that in order to view a preview of a post, you have to Save it first).

I have disabled post revisions with Lester Chan’s instructions.

To turn off this feature, add this following code to wp-config.php:

define('WP_POST_REVISIONS', false);

To change the timing (in seconds) WordPress auto saves a post, add this following code to wp-config.php:

define('AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL', 60);

You can also delete all post revisions by running this query in phpMyAdmin:

DELETE FROM wp_posts WHERE post_type = 'revision';

Be sure to backup your database first before performing any queries in phpMyAdmin.

I changed the autosave to 180 seconds so it wasn’t so irritating and got rid of post revisions. Thanks Lester!

Category: Wordpress  |  2 Comments

Stickergiant Stickers Protect You From Robots

7/19/2008, 1:41 pm, Art

new-swarm-stickerSWARM has some new stickers in the mail. Not only will they protect you from the robotic singularity that is to come, but they are really cool (and shiny, we like shiny!).

So the next time you see me or a killer^H^H^H^H^H^H beautiful spherical robot approaching, ask me for a sticker!

The folks at StickerGiant did a very nice job on them :-)

They got into our art project so much that they commented about us on their blog and gave us a batch of stickers fer free :-)

Rock on Stickergiant.

Category: Art  |  1 Comment

Can We Go a Little Tiny Bit Faster?

7/19/2008, 3:03 am, Notable

over the Fourth of July I was in Vermont with my family. I had not spent time at the house for several years.it is very reassuring that the place is still there. It smells the same as it has for more than 30 years now. Oh my, 30 years.

The best moment I had all week was when Julia and I went on the Bromley slide. We hadn’t really planned on going on the slide, Julia has a hard time getting into new adventurous things. Riding down the longest alpine slide in America at full speed would probably not be at the top of her list… well, read on.

I was surprised that she wasn’t freaked out by the chair lift… I would be. No, that was not an issue. We went up the chair lift saying that we would just “check it out at the top”. The lift operators said that we could go on a “scenic ride”, no problem. Though frankly I was a little worried about getting back on the lift on the way back down. Well, we got to the top and just sat around for awhile. We watched some people go down but not with any intention. I suggested that we go pick flowers at the top of the mountain but she was a little uncomfortable and said “no”. After a few minutes, Julia was ready to go back down the chair lift; we started walking up toward the lift. If I were Julia walking back up toward the chair lift I would have been a little bit unnerved at all of the activity… the people getting off the lift, the people helping, the chairs spinning around. Well, in one movement she turned around and started running back down toward the slide saying that she wanted to go. I grabbed a sled and that was that!

When we got down to the bottom, she ran to the chair lift. On the second run, we went down just as fast as we dared!

Category: Notable  |  Comment
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