Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Statistics for March 2010

3.66mwh total with a maximum of 7661W. That means that in March I generated a 1MWH of power. My meter has not advanced (on average) the whole month. It also means that for the second time I've generated more power than the system is rated to generate. Now witness the full power of this fully installed and operational solar electric system.

This really is so totally cool. I'm damn glad I got this done.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

BMW Z3 EV conversion by Tim Catellier

http://ev.gearboxmagazine.com/2010/03/16/tim-catelliers-2000-bmw-z3-ev/
This is an article about my friend Tim who just finished converting a BMW Z3 to all electrical. I've been reading along while he's been building it, and spent an excellent day hanging out talking and checking out the car when I was down in Phoenix last. I've got to say he's done an exceptional job on this and really proved he is an extraordinary man especially when it comes to resolving difficult problems. Many of the problems he ran into would have stopped me dead.

Here's his blog in case you're interested.
http://evz3.blogspot.com/

Monday, March 1, 2010

Incredibly efficient solar panels.

http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/13325

Flexible solar panels that can usefully absorb 96% of single wavelength light and 85% of all light and convert it to electricity. That is unbelievable. I could replace my entire array with about 1/3 the panels, or triple my energy production. I sure hope they get to market with a reasonable price soon.