Hexayurt - A great Refugee Shelter

I am interested in technology that could be used to help the poor and found some information on a refugee shelter called a Hexayurt.

The hexayurt can be made of a number of materials, but it is generally some kind of strong but light honeycomb panels. Six panels are used for the roof and between six and twelve panels can by used for the main walls depending if you are building a larger one or smaller one.

The hexayurt was created by Vinay Gupta. He developed the hexayurt for the long term because refugees often are in camps for up to 17-20 years. The panels are easily moved by a couple of men, they can be stacked and transported by truck. The panels would be assembled together using strong filament tape.

The project has been developed as open source - so anyone can access the plans who need them. Governments and individuals can access the plans free of charge. According to Gupta, the materials for a structure can be purchased for a couple of hundred dollars and two people with some experience can assemble one in a couple of hours.

They are waterproof structures. The floor would generally be a tarp.

The shelter is mobile and could easily be taken down and re-assembled elsewhere if needed. You would just have to tape it back up. A truck could carry a large number of these if needed.

The organizers have also developed and infrastructure kit for handling water, sewage, etc.

This is a great idea with a lot of potential. Go to hexayurt for more information.

EzineArticle Author: Not Bragging - Just Happy

I'm kind of proud right now. See the little banner on the right at the top. It's official: I'm now an EZINE author. Not platinum or anything yet. It's just the first article.

I submitted an article on Solar Christmas Lights to EzineArticles a couple of days ago. I just received this approval. I've heard from many that this is the best article directory on the web and that they are stringent. It is silly I guess, but after I had written and edited the article I waited two days before submitting. For some reason, because of their reputation, I had some trepidation about this. But it's good. I've submitted another article that's in review right now. For those who have done this a lot, this may seem silly, but for me, it's a big deal right now.

Check out Christmas Solar Lights- Four Reasons to Switch from Traditional Holiday Lights.



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Hello John,

Your article, "Christmas Solar Lights - Four Reasons to Switch From Traditional Holiday Lights" - has been accepted and published on EzineArticles.com:
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We Are The Solution in Our Communities

Many people want to look toward government for solutions to our economic problems. The truth is, if we really became a community then we can be the solution.

Last year I purchased a six color screen printing setup, for the hope that some day I will start a screen printing business. A friend of a friend was nice enough several months ago to offer to help me learn the ropes so to speak. He had been a screen printer before.

I had the equipment in my shed. I still hadn't built a place to set up as a screen printing shop. My friend said that this friend had been laid off of his job.

It just came together. I'm not using the equipment right now. This man has space in his garage. He had mentioned how he would love to get back into screen printing someday. I offered my equipment. After all, this man has a wife and children to take care of.

He happily accepted and picked up the equipment this morning.

There is no reason that people can't come together and help one another. We just have to re-capture the idea of community and what it means to love one another.

This isn't the only case like this. More and more there are pockets of people coming together recognizing that they are stronger together than they are individually. People like the Amish have realized it - that's why they can raise a barn in a day.

We have to move beyond the Ultimate Consumer attitude of collecting more and more goods and move toward the idea of a better life and lifestyle by sharing and helping each other.

When a big hit movie comes out on DVD, why do we all go buy one. Isn't that a waste. How often will we watch it. What if neighbors somehow came together and put together their own lending libraries so they could share the costs of movies. What about boats? Why do you go down the block in some neighborhoods and lots of people have ski boats, what if some form of fractional ownership was created. Wouldn't that be less expensive. You could have a reservation system so everyone could use it.

I don't know how this would work, but it seems saner to me than everyone buying stuff that they don't use that often.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cindy47452/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Christmas Solar Lights - Ideas for Outside Christmas Decorations

Christmas solar lights are a great way to decorate outside. There are several reasons for considering the use of solar Christmas lights this Christmas season. I started using them last year because they solved a problem for me.

I live in the country and I have a fence near the main row that I wanted to decorate for Christmas. The problem I have is that the location I wanted to decorate doesn't have an electric outlet anywhere close. Actually the closest available outlet is probably about 150 yards away. That meant using extension chords was out of the question.

Last year I saw a news segment on television about Solar Christmas lights. I knew that was my solution I checked with several retailers but none of the stores had them including Wal-Mart, Target and Lowes. Finally, I found a Home Depot with three boxes, which I snatched up. I also bought a set of solar powered spotlights.

I intertwined the solar Christmas lights with garland and hung them on the fence. I put a wreath on a fence post and used the solar powered spotlights to illuminate it. It wasn't much but it was a start and I was pleased with the results.

Fortunately, this year I've done my research and have found that Christmas solar lights are readily available online. So, I'll be adding to my collection and I look forward to a great display.

Search Amazon.com for solar christmas lights

Water for the Poor in Africa

Water for the poor in Africa: A starting point for my dream. I've simplified my life because I have a dream of making a difference in the world. In the past few years I've helped the homeless, helped provide a Christmas for a family with mom and dad out of work, helped some other people who lost their jobs, and a number of other things. I don't say this as a boast but as an indicator or a starting point that's all.

I am blessed to live in one of the wealthiest nations on the planet. I have a job. I have insurance. I have plenty to eat...too much actually. I have a a car. I have a family that loves me and a roof over my head. I live in relative peace. I also have a faith in God that says I have been blessed so that I can be a blessing.

I have a desire now to make a difference in Africa. But I don't want to be a one note solution. Hey we'll drill a well here then move on.

What if we dug a water well in an African village this year. Next year we come back and put in some solar panels so they could use LED lights in the village to study by or get a few more work hours in that could make a real difference in their lives. Then what if we built a clinic and followed up with a school. In essence building some infrastructure where there is a chance for education, improved health and maybe even the development of commerce.

Then what if we also started in the next village down the road, doing the same thing. Then another nearby village and another.

We could develop an oasis that is free from going from one crisis to another maybe and we could develop an economy between those villages that could then begin to benefit others as well. Then real wealth could be created that is in the hands of the local people.

I don't know -but this is part of my dream. That starts with my first project - a water well. I just feel that it is important to start there. Where? I don't know yet. Maybe somewhere in Kenya. I've got to do some research. But my first goal is to be able to have $5000 for the first well by my birthday next year.

Vegas Sparkles With Solar Energy

By Nathan Lew

In a plan that is less surprising than audacious, Las Vegas city fathers plan to place solar panels on top of carports at a number of city-owned and operated facilities.

The $11-million plan, will reportedly cut the city's electricity costs by about $300,000 a year when completed, and generate enough electricity to supply 170 homes.

The solar panels in question have a life expectancy of between 25 and 40 years (the first figure being closer to the expert's usual estimates), and the city's investment of $600,000 from a "green" building fund will reportedly be recaptured in about 15 years.

The rest of the funding - $4,150,000 of Energy Efficiency Community Block Grant funds (EECBG), $1,276,738 from Community Development Block Grant Recovery (CDBG-R, or ARRA) funds, and $5.1 million from New Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, as well as utility rebates for renewable energy - makes up the balance.

The project will initially start with three sets of panels mounted across 34 carport stalls and paid for by ARRA funding, and will be located at the new Stupak Community Center at 300 W. Boston Ave. (across the street from the Chester Stupak Park). The center, built in 2008 at a cost of $7.5 million, is nearly complete and contains 34,183 square feet of ESL and general classrooms, an indoor gym/aerobic fitness and weight control center, a kitchen, a library and a game room. Opening is scheduled for this winter.

Two other solar projects, also slated for carport roofs on public buildings, will finish the 950-kilowatt project, which is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the city's carbon footprint by 949 tons of carbon monoxide (which would have been produced by burning fossil fuels). Stupak Center solar project construction is expected to start in 2010.

The new Stupak Community Center is slated for completion this fall, with an opening proposed for this winter. The solar carport at the center is expected to break ground sometime in 2010.

The panels, funded from the Community Development Block Grant Recovery portion of ARRA, is the first project approved in the region, which includes Nevada, California, Arizona and Hawaii, and will provide between 10 and 30 percent of the center's power needs, depending on usage.

The panels also provide covered parking, and they, along with solar installations at the waste water treatment plant, will move the city to 10 percent of renewable power by 2011, which is close to Nevada's Renewable Energy Standard (RES) of 25 percent of energy from renewables by 2025.

Cooler Planet is a leading solar resource for connecting consumers and commercial entities with local solar Installers. Cooler Planet's solar energy resource page contains articles and tools about solar panels to help with your solar project.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nathan_Lew
http://EzineArticles.com/?Vegas-Sparkles-With-Solar-Energy&id=3125709

Micro Inverters A Step Forward For Solar Energy

Enphase Energy has developed a great new product. It's a micro-inverter that attaches directly to the solar panel. In most systems, DC current come from the panels and go into a large inverter that converts it to AC for use in the house or to tie into the grid.

The Enphase micro inverters now convert it directly to AC current for use in the house and tie into the electric grid. According to Enphase it is also more efficient than normal inverters.

There are some terrific advantages to this approach:

• You can start out with a smaller system and add panels as you can afford them or need them -mismatch is not as much of an issue.
  
• The panels don't need to be the same type or wattage.
• If there is a problem on one micro inverter, you don't lose all of your output as you would if a large inverter went on the blitz.
• Installation is simplified as the panels are wired in parallel and there are no DC strings
• The micro inverters mount on a rack under the solar panel
• The performance of each module is tracked in five minute intervals and is transmitted over the same AC lines - if a problem develops the data will indicate it.
• The system is reliable with meantime between failures at 119 years.
• According to Enphase the micro inverters allows a greater harvest of energy of between five and twenty percent over traditional inverters.

For an animated presentation of the system.

Learn more about solar energy

Solar Energy Systems Add to the Value of Your Home

There is some interesting information for people who are interested in solar energy. Many people when thinking about solar energy don't think about is how the installation of a solar system impacts the value of your house.

According to a study done by the Appraisal Institute which is an organization for professional appraisers, solar systems do have a positive impact on the value of the property.

The Appraisal Institute estimate that for that for every dollar of saving that a system produces annually, it adds twenty to the value of the house. For instance if your system generates a saving of 500.00 annually, then you can expect it to increase the value of your home by $10,000.

This is another consideration when looking at the affordability and the economics of going to solar for your energy needs.

For more information about solar energy see Solar Energy Solutions
photo above is from the Department of Energy showing solar panels on the back porch awning.