25,000+ Almost entirely on Dumpster fill WVO.  Keep up with my experiences in the BioFuel world.

A slew of new mini-solar panels and wind-up/crank 5v (cell phone/ipod/etc) chargers have come out in the last couple of years. However this is the first micro turbine I have seen. It has a built in 1200mAh battery, Can be chained with optional solar cells and dishes its power out of a USB port. It looks to be a very versatile little unit.

Is it worth the $50 price tag is a very important question. Given the myriad of uses it just may find a niche. Pretty cool, but at least in my opinion questionably practical. Check it out: www.hymini.com

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” Project: Solar Tower Technology

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Air is heated by solar radiation under a low circular glass roof open at the periphery; this and the natural ground below it form a hot air collector. In the middle of the roof is a vertical tower with large air inlets at its base. The joint between the roof and the tower base is airtight. As hot air is lighter than cold air it rises up through the chimney. Suction from the tower then draws in more hot air from the collector, and cold air flows in from the outer perimeter. The solar radiation is responsible for causing a constant up-draught in the tower. The energy created through this process is converted into mechanical energy by the rising air passing through the pressure-staged wind turbines at the base of the tower, and into electrical energy by conventional generators. ”

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It sounds like a very promising new technology, I really hope the demo units get built that they discuss in this website.

I just stumbled upon this video minutes ago, Helix Wind Turbine video on YouTube. The concept for vertical mounted turbines is nothing new, but this is the first solid bladed helical turbine I have seen for the residential market. Last year the BBC ran this article “New helix wind turbine for city” on a similar approach to wind-power. I have always been very excited about the Darius turbine concept, these new turbines appear to be so simple. I cannot wait until I learn more about them.

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(picture is of turbine to be built in the UK) 

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Green Health Live - Internet TV show, covering a wide range of topics, I just downloaded the episode 104, I’m curious to see its biodesiel section.

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Saw Dust Toilet! - Great online pictorial for building and handling your own ‘humanure’ heap. I understand human waste can be a hassle (and nasty for those of us with ‘poor’ diets!) But I’ve seen this in action before, it really IS this simple. Two years ago I spent over a week and almost $4,000 to put in a large state of the art septic system…

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http://www.homepower.com - Of course… HomePower! how could I even dream of leaving them out! If I link to them enough they just may link back!

The people at Prism Solar seem to think so… The picture is of a 25watt panel using dramatically less silicon for the collection area then standard panels. This is made possible because the light hits the whole surface of the panel and is eventually refracted into the silicon via a transparent holographic optical element.

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According to this article in Technology Review, Manufacturing costs could start at or under $2.40 a watt, Eventually to get even lower as the process is refined.

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The concept has been around for a couple decades now but it has yet to be developed commercially. There are many new and exciting technologies for increasing our efficiency and lowering costs of solar power. While I drool at the thought of a lifetime-lasting PV panel new at under $3.00 a watt I will believe it when I see it.

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This is the Asus R2Hv UMPC. It boasts a impressive feature-set for a device so small at a sub $1000.00 price point.

• 7-inch WVGA LCD touch screen
• Intel Pentium M 723(1.0GHz)
• 1280MB of RAM
• 80GB 4200rpm HD
• Weighing less then 2.0lbs

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Obviously such devices have limitations not found on more conventional machines, However they introduce a whole new style of mobile computing. UMPC’s such as this one by Asus pictured above are putting a tremendous amount of power and flexibility into a tiny package. One of the biggest benefits of this new class of computer is not necessarily the actual size of the device.

Several UMPC’s are now shipping with unmodified versions of Windows Vista. Granted window’s vista might not be every-ones cup of tea from a performance aspect right now, But it shows us that these manufacturers are trying to put the complete flexibility of a desktop OS literally into your pocket. Imagine being able to share and work seamlessly across several platforms without the need for sync’ing, converting file types and trying keep track of different versions of Google Maps.

The power consumption of these devices still varies. According to various sites, they average 20-25Watts stored in the battery, and have a average run-time of 2-3 hours (of course this depends on what you are doing!) Its safe to say conservatively that these devices can often use less then 10Watts of power hour. That is 4 times less power then the laptop I am writing this report on.

While I would not venture to say that everyone should run out and spend a thousand dollars to buy one of these devices just to cut power consumption. It does open many new opportunities for those of us seeking ultra-low-power consuming computers. Specifically if you are generating your own electricity or live in a place where it is very expensive (Here in Hawai’i its over .30cents a Kilowatt!).

Considering these devices are on the market now and some have been for some time the future is bright for getting your PC fix anytime,anywhere and doing so on a re-markedly low amount of power. For the green-conscious buyer current and future UMPC’s might deserve special consideration. As mentioned before if you are supplying or hope to generate your own power soon, One of UMPC’s alone could save you its cost in solar panels alone. Something to consider!

Stay tuned!