Sunday, 6 March 2011
Fafco has done it again with the release of their new Revolution DHW system. This “Solar in a Box” system features a closed loop, lightweight panel setup that uses the sun’s energy to heat your home’s water and it’s pumps and heat exchanger can run off the optional PV panel, making it 100% green. Why use precious resources and pay each month when you can use the Sun?? What’s even better…. it qualifies for both an instant rebate AND a 30% federal tax credit!
Contact Revco to get with the times and heat your water free of guilt!
Friday, 11 February 2011
It appears this small town tried to pull a “fast one” on it’s resident’s in a MORBID attempt to save money. Read the article below if you have the stomach!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1354764/Sick-plan-heat-swimming-pool-plugging-crematorium-gets-ahead-cash-stapped-council.html
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Roll out the red carpet, Revco is making an appearance at the Fafco Headquarters this month!
Owner Richard Vogel, Sales Manager Jim Bassler, and salespeople Matt edwards and Joe D. will be touring the Fafco Hq. There they will get a hands on view of how the best Solar Pool Heating panels on the market are made and meet the wonderful people at Fafco who have been setting standards in the industry for over 30 years.
Someone call TMZ, this trip is gonna be HOT
For more info on Fafco and Revco visit www.revcosolar.com
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
The time has come, yet again the Edison Solar rebate has dropped a tier. For those of you thinking about solar for your home call us, or go to www.Revcosolar.com to file for your rebate before it drops again.
Friday, 21 January 2011
This is your last chance to secure the $1.55/watt rebate for Edison Residential customers. If you are thinking about investing in your home and want to help save the world… DO IT NOW BEFORE IT COSTS YOU MORE!!!
The next step in the SCE rebate program is $1.10/watt and there is less than 5% of the MW allowance remaining before we reach this tier!
Monday, 27 December 2010
HB-SIA On Flight
There seems to be a refreshing new hope for all of us interested on entering a new era of efficient, renewable and non-contaminating energies. For some of us, Solar Power stands as the best candidate.
This new hope is brought by SOLAR IMPULSE, a project founded by Bertrand Piccard, psychiatrist and aeronaut and André Borschberg, an engineer and graduate in management science. For seven years, a team of 50 engineers and technicians have been working on the HB-SIA solar aircraft, a zero fuel and completely solar powered aircraft that is able to flight at night.
Solar Powered vehicles have been in development from the 1980’s. For a long time there were not really satisfying results. Even today when you mention solar powered vehicles people tend to imagine a really bulky thing that moves very slow and just stops if the sky gets cloudy – just a scientific curiosity that has no practical use.
However, the SOLAR IMPULSE team is changing the scenario.
SOLAR IMPULSE
SOLAR IMPULSE is a partnership between several companies (Solvay, Omega and Deutsche Bank among others) that expresses a positive vision of scientific adventure, environmental awareness and contribution to the future generations.
This brings some hope on a world that is currently based on squeezing up earth’s natural resources until the last drop to get economic benefits for just a reduced number of people, and not taking future or present consequences in account.
There is certainly a necessity of abandoning this resource exhausting economy because it simple won’t be possible to continue with it much longer. In the words of SOLAR IMPULSE founder, Bertrand Piccard:
“Adventure is not necessarily a spectacular deed, but rather an “extra-ordinary” one, meaning something that pushes us outside our normal way of thinking and behaving. Something that forces us to leave the protective shell of our certainties, within which we act and react automatically. Adventure is a state of mind in the face of the unknown, a way of conceiving our existence as an experimental field, in which we have to develop our inner resources, climb up the path of our personal evolution and assimilate the ethical and moral values, which we need as our travel companions.”
HB-SIA Solar Powered Aircraft
HB-SIA Official Picture
From the beginning of the project the intention was to produce a completely self-sufficient solar powered aircraft that could sustain flight on both day and night, and come close to perpetual flight. This is a tremendous challenge since that -even with recent advances on PV cells that make them much more efficient- the balance between precise aerodynamics and the dimensions required by the solar panels array to produce the necessary energy it is something very difficult to achieve. Also, materials have to be very lightweight yet very resistant.
HB-SIA prototype has a 63.40 meters wingspan – almost exactly the same as the giant Airbus A340-500- and has the weight of an average car at 1600 kg. Making an aircraft with that characteristics is something new in the aeronautics world. In order to achieve this the airplane structure was constructed with
carbon fibre-honeycomb composite. The solar panels are encapsulated and placed on the upper-side of the wings, while the bottom is covered with high resistance flexible film.
The Aircraft is able to sustain night fly because it stores the solar powered energy on lithium polymer batteries. This may be the more problematic issue to improve as the energy storage systems weights 400kg – one fourth of the overall weight- and it is not really efficient.
HB-SIA TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Wingspan 63.40 m
Length 21.85 m
Height 6.40 m
Motor power 4 x 10 HP electric engines
Solar cells 11,628 (10,748 on the wing, 880 on the horizontal stabilizer)
Average flying speed 70 km/h
Maximum altitude 8,500 m (27,900 ft)
Weight 1,600 kg
Take-off speed 35 km/h
CURRENT STATUS
On 7 April 2010 the prototype made a successful maiden flight.
As reported by SOLAR IMPULSE, on 7 July 2010 at 06:51, the HB-SIA took off from the Swiss Payerne airbase with André Borscherg, CEO and co-founder, at the controls. This time the intention is to perform a full night flight.
As this article is being written the aircraft has already fully charged the batteries and has entered in shadows of the night. We will update to inform about the outcome of the mission, that we are confident it will be successful.
UPDATE: SOLAR IMPULSE HB-SIA HAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED THE FIRST NIGHT FLIGHT BY A SOLAR POWERED PLANE. ACCORDING TO SOLAR IMPULSE:
The plane was up in the air yesterday for the whole day, then through the entire night, flying solely on solar energy. This flight is the longest and highest in the history of solar aviation!
FLIGHT REPORT
Pilot: André Borschberg, CEO and Co-founder
Take-off time: 07/07/2010 – 06h51
Landing time: 08/07/2010 – 09:00
Flight duration: 26 hours 09 min
Maximum speed: 68 knots (ground speed)
Average speed: 23 knots
Maximum altitude: 8564 m (above sea-level)
Our congratulations to the Solar Impulse team for making good & clean history!
SOLAR IMPULSE SITE: http://solarpower.com/
HB-SIA OFFICIAL BROCHURE: http://www.solarimpulse.com/pdf/hb-sia/hb-sia_en.pdf
Monday, 20 December 2010
It’s official: A beloved federal grant program for renewable energy generation projects gets to live for another year. President Obama signed a tax package on Friday that extended a grant program, which provides 30 percent of the cost of a clean power project.
Friday, 17 December 2010
Congratulations to the Kodet family on their new Fafco solar pool heating system, and for helping to save the Earth!
Friday, 17 December 2010
The TÛRANOR PlanetSolar, the world’s largest solar-powered boat, has just completed the first stage of its journey around the world – a trans-Atlantic journey from Monaco to Miami. The Swiss-designed solar-powered catamaran left Monaco on the 27th of September and docked in Miami just a few days ago, on the 28th of November.
At 101.7ft (31 meters) long and 49.2ft (15 meters) wide, the TÛRANOR PlanetSolar is the world’s largest solar-powered boat. The vessel is completely fuelled by renewable energy, with its solar cells having a 22% efficiency rate. These are the highest rated cells available for purchase on the market, and the cells cover over 500 square meters of the ship. The solar cells are able to power two electric motors which are found in the hull, giving the ship at a top speed of 14 knots. Most notably, the large surface area of solar cells means that the catamaran can travel for up to three full days, even without direct sunlight – any excess energy is stored in a state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery.
After this layover in Miami, the TÛRANOR PlanetSolar will head to Cancún, Mexico for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, where it will participate in activities organized by the Swiss government. The vessel is then expected to fully circumnavigate the world in the coming months, visiting San Francisco, Sydney, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, before returning home to Monaco.
