PV Gap

Heidi Said:

What would be a clever handout on a renewable energy class presentation?

We Answered:

Perhaps a hand-cranked, high voltage supply,like the early home-phone contraptions? They can make a Tazer device seem stupid. Tame it down with some cool led lights and a quick charge lithium-ion battery to show the raw power of these -together. You have the stuff to do it! Just do it!

Ashley Said:

Solar Energy - PLEASE HELP?

We Answered:

Have a look on google.

James Said:

Solar Energy Presentation Help?

We Answered:

Hi Erynn, you have picked a good subject. We live in a solar powered home today, and we love it. I actually get to teach the solar power class at our local school each year. In my case, we have a solar panel and some lights and electronics we can hook up and actually run in the classroom. I'm guessing you don't have access to those items, but here is what I would do. Get on some websites and look for information on how solar power is used in different places, and then find some great photos of solar arrays, panels and such on homes, businesses and in remote places, like farms and weather stations. See if you can build some kind of slide show like a power point program or something, or even pictures printed out on your home printer that you can put up on a board or projector in school. Then talk about what the articles said about many of your pictures. Learning about something new always works best if the listener can see and hear about the subject at the same time, this is why visual aids are so important while you are presenting information. I will list some places to look for info below.

Solar is very promising today. At present, we only have access to it during the day when the sun is shining, and we can use it to heat water, homes and buildings, as well as produce electricity. But that will change soon. The Germans are embarking on a fantastic project in the Sahara Desert that will concentrate the suns heat to heat oil to over 300 degrees all day long, then use the hot oil to boil water into steam which will run a steam turbine, similar to ones in oil and coal electric plants today. The difference is when all the oil is heated at the end of the day, it will be stored in huge insulated tanks, and used to boil the water at night too, so now we will have access to solar power at night, very exciting. Go to google, and enter the phrase, "North Africa Solar Project," to look for articles and pictures of this promising project. The plan is to make a large field of collectors that will produce electricity for all of Europe from the desert.

The really great thing about solar power is its ability to bring people all over the globe to an equal playing field. Right now we use coal and oil for most of our energy. Those resources come from just a few places on earth, which gives those countries and the rich governments that rule them more power over other resources on our planet. This is one of the primary reasons some countries are so rich, and others so poor. Solar power is spread pretty evenly over the middle third of our globe, which just happens to be where all the people are. If we used solar as our primary power source one day, it would put people in Bogota on a more equal footing with people in Boca Raton. This would help eliminate poverty and many diseases as those poorer places on the globe began to have access to better technology, and we would be making the air and water cleaner at the same time. It's what people in the renewable energy business call, "The Social Benefit," of solar power.

Good luck Erynn, and take care, Rudydoo

Alex Said:

what is solar energy's impact on the environment?

We Answered:

''Solar energy would have to provide 20 percent of the energy supply to have a climate change impact," Baker told LiveScience. "We'd like it to be more than that."

MIT studies impact of solar energy on emissions reductions.
Their results confirm that emissions reductions from "nondispatchable" resources such as solar and wind generation and electricity conservation are highly dependent on exactly where and when they are used.

Nicholas Said:

Why does this toy have a solar panel?

We Answered:

The battery is solar powered. The solar panel charges the batteries.

Philip Said:

Solar energy presentation gifts?

We Answered:

Hey AJ, I'm a little perplexed, you said students? I teach solar power at several elementary level schools each year, I've never given the students a gift for coming. It sounds like a nice idea, but maybe these are not public school children. Something simple and inexpensive is a small solar powered device, like a calculator. They can be had at the drug store for a few dollars each, is that what you had in mind? If you want to spend a little more, a radiometer is interesting, it spins with the power of the sun, or a bright light bulb, but is not affected by the wind. I don't know what they cost, try googling it for a source to purchase.

In my experience, the kids find hooking up an actual panel to a battery, making some electricity right at school and running some small electronics more exciting than a small gift. The only thing I send home with them is a one page sheet describing basically the science of solar panels and wind turbines, and how they can help their Mom and Dad save energy around the house, like by changing light bulbs and simple stuff like that. Most of these kids have parents that are constantly hounding them to, "Turn off the light!!" So they find it empowering to have some ideas of their own on how to trim the family energy bill when they go home.

There are some good non profit renewable energy websites you might check out for ideas, and I would look into Real Goods catalog too, they sell lots of wierd stuff like that. I'll list some sources below. Good luck AJ, and take care, Rudydoo

Ana Said:

EZ 10 points: ENERGY presentation discussion?

We Answered:

Uhmm i'd have to say choose How we need to open our homeland sources and supply our country with our own sources of ENERGY instead of spending billion relying on foreign countries