Going Green But Keeping It Safe

I know that typically I write about solar on this blog, well today I am going to write about alternative transportation. For the last 4 years I have been attending the University of Arizona and all the while I have been biking to and from school. Currently we live 5 miles from the University so it is a nice bit of exercise to bike to school.

Last Thursday as I was biking to school I got about a 1/4 mile from my house and started to make a turn to the left.So I was banking left on my bike when something happened and I still don’t know what it was. But my bike caught and I flipped over the top of it. It was a simple turn that I have made for the last 2 years 5 days a week but this time something happened.

I was going maybe 12 mph when it happened but it still was a rough landing. I hit head and the top of my right shoulder first and I also ripped up my right foot as it got free of the bike. I was quite dazed to say the least, my wife who was riding right behind me helped me get off the road. And since I had a final exam first thing she quickly headed home to get the car.

Thankfully after about 4 days I no longer have the headaches and my neck is finally movable again, all my tears and scraps are healing up just fine. But the moral of the story is not don’t bike to work or school but do it safely.

My 50 dollar bike helmet kept me from a trip to the hospital. Without it I don’t know where I would be right now but I know I wouldn’t be biking to school again this morning (the following Tuesday). The bike helmet is broken in the main part of the frame in 2 places and the plastic lining that actually secures it to my head is busted in multiple places.

Going green can be a great thing but unfortunately many don’t do it in a manner that is safe. I have been riding a bike since I was 3. In fact when my dad put training wheels on my new bike I came back in 20 minutes and asked him to take them off because I could not skid well enough. I am no stranger to a bike, I rode in the capital of Senegal West Africa every weekend for hours and lived to tell about it. The only place in America with even close to as crazy reckless drivers is California and they are not even close.

But the moral of the story is no matter how good at something you think you are, count on the unexpected, go green safe. A commercial I saw once said, “Green It, Mean It or Die.” Well if you are greening it and meaning it then get safe or you could die.

Installation Variances

When you look around and see solar installations there are three preferred installation styles, roof, pole and ground. Traditionally solar panels were put on the roof of a house or building. Then pole installations became very popular. This is where the solar panels are mounted on a rack that is attached to a pole that is anchored into the ground. Then recently with the rising number of solar fields (or huge empty lots filled with panels) has come the use of ground installations.

Typically you will not see a ground installation in a small installation, these are used in large installations where even though it may not matter if they are not the most efficient but the ease of installation and maintenance is key.

With the rise in building codes for solar installations and as solar installers get more experience they are trying to shy away from roof installations. This is for a very simple set of reasons. Most roofs do not face the best direction for solar gain. If you mess up on the mounts to the roof you could cause leaks and be financially responsible for any water damage to the home, and it is not the safest place to be carrying around large flat panels that wind can catch.

In residential and many commercial installations the pole installation is become the favored style. All that is required is that you have enough ground space to anchor a pole into the ground. then enough clearance around the rack so it can gather solar energy.

Some of the pole mount racks are called trackers, they do just that, by some way they move with the movement of the sun to ensure optimal sun energy all day long. However this can be dangerous in larger installations because of wind it is safer to install a solid rack that does not move.

Now in Mexico the story is much different than in the US. Since there are little to no building codes roofs are favored. This is true in many non developed countries, the roof is the easiest and cheapest option for the solar panels. So they will be mounted to the roof in the easiest way possible. Often it will not even include not even putting in a angled rack. it will just be flat mounted to the roof.

I have worked on all of these installations and I have to say that the pole installation is so simple and has so many advantages the extra cost is very much worth it. They are easier to access and easier to keep away from shade of trees and buildings. But if not done right in a high wind area they can cause more damage than a roof installation.

The Science of Solar

I recently learned in my astronomy class that the sun produces more energy every second than the human race has since the industrial revolution.

So that sure would explain why in these tough times where many electricity creating natural resources are dwindling that humans are turning to the sun to get their power.

But even though the sun is creating so much power we have a hard time harvesting enough for our own use, why is that? There are a number of reasons, most of which have to do with a lack of ability.

To start at the source you must understand that even though the sun emits so much energy that is in every direction. So we are just in the path of some of the energy.

The next blockade is that the earth has a magnetic field. This is a good thing because it protects us from the suns blasts of energy that can literally rip off our atmosphere. Which is what has been theorized to have happened to Mars.

So our magnetic field protects us from the sun immense amount of energy, which means some of the energy is deferred.

Now we are to where we make our attempt at capturing the power of the sun, planet earth.

The most popular method for harnessing electricity from the sun, I say most popular because I do not know if there are other types, are solar panels.

There are different types of solar panels but the most common ones on the market are photo voltaic, or PV panels. Now science is advancing in this field on a daily basis because of the new rise in demand, but still these are extremely inefficient, only capturing less than 40% of the actual solar power reaching the panel.

What that means for solar installations is that they have to be put in the most efficient locations possible, turns out that along the US Mexico border that is in fact one of the best locations for solar radiance.

To the right is an image of the solar radiance of Mexico, as you can see the red is the most solar radiance, which means that in the red would be the best location to capture solar power.

Below is a image that measures the same solar radiance but in the United States. As you can see right on the border with Mexico is one of the areas with the most solar radiance.

Essentially currently the capture of solar power for energy is extremely inefficient so the location is extremely vital so that more energy can be captured, the US Mexico border area is ideal for solar installations.

Alternative, Alternative Energy

At the mention of alternative energy everyone in the conversation immediately says it is a great thing. We want that clean energy because we want to save the planet. But what about alternative alternative energy?

When the average American is discussing alternative energy what is mostly being talked about is solar panels to collect electricity, solar water heaters and wind turbines. But are there more alternatives to these alternatives?

The first ones that come to mind and that I personally have experience with are solar ovens, solar cookers and solar dryers all of which are related to food. Now in the American world of electricity and easily available gas not to mention microwave ovens the idea of using anything solar to prepare your food seems ridiculous.

Just to help out the reader I would like to define for you what these contraptions look like and what function they perform.

Solar Cooker- These are used for what you would use your stove top for. You place your pot of whatever you need to cook in the middle of the device and wait for quite a bit longer than a stove would take. But with enough forethought these can work excellently.

(please note this is a generic image as there are many types and variations)

Solar Oven- These are extremely similar to the solar cookers. But the difference is they perform the function that a oven would. Generally the reflectors point the sun into a enclosed space that has a glass plate over top of the space. What is trying to be cooked is behind the glass plate. What ends up happening is a amplified version of what happens to your car in the summer, the interior gets really hot. These are commonly built in high school science classes to bake some cookies.

Solar Dryer- These are used to dry out food so it can be preserved. These are extremely similar to the solar ovens in design but the time frame is much greater. These actual vary in use and design much more than the cooker or oven. But essentially the result is the same to dry out fruit and vegetables by using free energy from the sun.

Please note this is a generic image and the design and use of solar dryers can vary immensely.

All of these devices are becoming more common to be used in rural Mexico where all forms of cooking are being done by burning wood. Which creates smoke and work for the people collecting the wood.

The idea of taking more time to prepare a meal in the microwave meal infested America seems a hard concept to grasp but in places where one might spend a few hours walking to where any wood remains and then carrying or carting it back to then be able to start cooking is it a practical solution.

Again solar cookers, ovens and dryers are not about being “green” for most of the users in Mexico and around the US border with Mexico is it about necessity, just like we found with the solar power.

Please note this is a generic image, solar ovens can vary greatly in design and function.

Working Rural

A local in Zimbabwe, Hardwork Marange, helps lower the solar well pump into the ground

In the United State and many other developed countries all buildings are governed by building codes. From the plumbing to the electrical everything has to be cleared and signed off on as being up to the state and federal codes.

When you break the realm of the developed countries you begin to lose all of those rules and regulations. But along with losing the codes you also lose the availability of modern technology that assists in the installation and monitoring of solar products.

From what I have seen people’s experience with solar power is related to their friends and family trying to live green, so they add some solar panels to their house. Then maybe they are free from the regular power grid or maybe they are in what is a grid tied system, where they still receive regular power and sell back to the grid when they have excess solar power.

But when you go outside of the “green living” concept there is the “need living” reality. This is where you will see the solar systems being installed in the developing countries, like Mexico and along the US-Mexico border.

Personally I have never installed a rural system on the US-Mexico border but I have installed a system in a rural town in Zimbabwe, Africa.

In a rural setting such as I was in you don’t measure your tools in horsepower but in man power. When you are ready to put a solar well pump into the ground you lower it in by hand, if you made a mistake you have to pull it out by hand, there is no other option.

The art of crafting solar panel brackets from the scrap yard. (photo by Joshua Schaa)

When the time comes to set the solar panels on the roof you don’t swing around a fork lift you get 5 guys spread out on the ladder, the ground and the roof to get the panels up.

Much like rural Mexico and along the US border in Zimbabwe if the solar system was not installed the only way to get the water would be to hand pull it out in buckets, and to have lights at night is to stock up on candles sand matches.

Having helped install system in the US using lifts and prebuilt mounting brackets it was quite an experience to have to start from scratch.

When working in the rural environment there comes delays that can take hours and even up to days, simple things like you run out of the right size bolts for fastening the solar panels down and you have to wait until the next trip to town, which might be a week away.

From what I saw in Zimbabwe and I have heard of working out in the rural locations of ranches and Forest Service water pumps along the border you have whatever you brought with you.

The luxuries of winches and electricity just don’t exist on location and to bring that with you means hours more of work or it is just impossible.

When solar contractors or solar living people think about actual using solar because it is a necessity and there is no other viable alternative it makes the job quite different.

What Does Green Mean on the Border?

In the American society today and in many societies around the world many people are concerned with their carbon footprint. Everyone wants to live more “green” and have that conform to their lifestyle. This has brought on the upward trend in sales on Prius’, solar systems and energy efficient lightbulbs.

Here in the Arizona border region many people are going green. They are purchasing solar systems, solar powered water pumps and solar water heating systems. But unlike many places in the world many of those going green are not doing it so they can reduce their carbon footprint, they are doing it because if they don’t they won’t have electricity, water or hot water.

My personal experience with solar power is that my father-in-law is a solar installer and has been living on solar alone since the late 80′s. My father-in-law lives and works near the Douglas/ Agua Prieta portion of the border and has been doing solar jobs across the border. For the most part when he does jobs over the border it is for large scale ranches that can afford the cost of solar.

But the main reason or use of the solar is to pump water. It has been said in solar circles that the most efficient form of solar will always be found in water, whether that be pumping or water heating. For the use of the ranches they have begun putting in solar powered well pumps because that makes it possible for them to provide water to their livestock in locations where it would not have been possible to do that before.

In locations on this border often it is required to go down as far as 700 feet to reach water in remote areas where their is no electricity available to even make it possible to consider pumping from the grid.

Now in larger scale ranches many are beginning to provide reliable power to their homes as well as hot water. This has become possible by the lowered cost of solar and the with that the easier access to solar products.

It seems that the demand for solar is being driven by people guilty consciences all around the world. However at the Arizona-Mexico border the demand for solar often relies on that fact that if they don’t use solar then they will begin to loss livestock.