The old “Across My Desk – Nancy’s web log” is no longer online. I haven’t been able to blog on it since last July or August so I just decided to start all over again with “Nancy Stine – Across my Desk”.Hope you will visit me there.
Nancy
Posted by: Nancy | March 8, 2009
The old “Across My Desk – Nancy’s web log” is no longer online.
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Nancy | February 23, 2009
Nan’s Vintage Treasures – Big 20% Sale
Original magazine ads of your favorite car, truck, motorcycle and tractor of the 40s, the 50s, the 60s, the 70s and the 80s.
Big 20% sale – Every item in my eBay store!
http://stores.ebay.com/Nans-Vintage-Treasures
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Nancy | November 19, 2008
HOME IMPROVEMENT EBOOKS.
Posted by: Nancy | November 17, 2008
Solar Panel Breakthrough Captures Over 96% of Light
From Andrew Oke
Living Off-grid
The great thing about solar panels is that they can last over 25 years without breaking. The bad thing is that’s probably the last time there was a major breakthrough in solar panel efficiency.
Sure there have been quite a few ‘breakthroughs’ over the years that improve efficiency by 5 – 10%, but solar panels are still only about 60 – 70% efficient. That’s about to change though.
Professor Shawn-Yu Lin and a group of scientists have developed a new way to manufacture solar panels… based on nanoscience, which are reportedly 96.21% efficient!
As I said earlier, most solar panels today are maximum 70% efficient so this is a huge breakthrough. This means that people could have 30% fewer solar panels and still generate the same amount of electricity. I’m sure these panels won’t be hitting the market for at least a couple of years, but with the global green shift I think the price of these panels could come down quite fast and be comparable with todays panels.
Apparently this new type of solar panels is made of of titanium dioxide and silicon dioxide nanorods positioned at oblique angles. The purpose of these nanorods is to trap the light inside the panel and not let it escape.
Many people have opted for the suntracker type of setup where your panels constantly reposition themselves during the day so that they face direct sunlight as long as possible. With these new solar panels that’s not required anymore. You could put them on the roof and they will absorb almost every single ray that hits them.
I wish I could get my hands on some, but sadly that probably won’t happen for a couple more years.
Posted by: Nancy | October 24, 2008
connecting the solar cells together
by Andrew Oke
“Living Off Grid Newsletter” <support@living-off-grid.com>
Hello,
Well, today will be the last day that we talk about solar panels because I really want to talk about a variety of other topics with you. Todays tip is about how to connect the solar cells together. Again, it comes from our book “Building and Installing Solar Panels” which can be found here:
http://www.living-off-grid.com/solar/solar-panel-easy-installation-guide
The excerpt from the book is below:
Connecting the Solar Cells Together
You will find little tabs on the back of the cells. Take your soldering iron and heat it up. Touch the tip of the tab and gently feed some solder onto the heated surface of the iron. Just one drop will do. Make sure you do all of the 4 to 6 tabs that you find.
The tabs on the backs of the cells will form a line, one on top and one on
bottom. The top tabs are negative and the bottom tabs are the positive leads.
With the drop of solder on the backs of the tabs gently place a copper wire
lead onto the tab and heat it up. The wire will bond to the tab and connect
the negative tabs together. Do the same for the other tabs.
Use different color wire for negative and positive leads to avoid confusion.
The cells are now stuck down to the plywood in the pattern that you made before and the wires are gently fed through the back of the plywood. Use just enough caulking to secure the cell to the backing. We usually use some sort of silicone because it is pliable and lasts a long time.
Use each hole for 2 cells, one facing left and one facing right so the lead wires will easily thread through the holes. Be careful not to press to hard on the cells when you are attaching them. We usually use a small piece of wood to place on the cells to press evenly with, thereby avoiding any breakage.
When you have all of the solar cells stuck down on the backing you will need to wire all of the same color (negative) wires together.
It is a good idea to make the leads long enough to join the ends later. Test fit a couple of cells before you begin.
**************
I would love to get into more detail, but the book is over 100 pages long and would make for quite a long email. Again, that tip came from our book “Building and Installing Solar Panels” which can be found here:
http://www.living-off-grid.com/solar/solar-panel-easy-installation-guid
Tomorrow I’m going to get into grid-tie solutions and just some overall good tips for people wishing to live off the grid.
Until then,
Andrew
Posted in Alternative Energy, Articles, Electricity/Solar/Wind, Living Off Grid, Make Your Community Fossil-Free, eBooks, free energy | Tags: Alternative Energy, Andrew Oke, article, DIY, diy solar power, eBook, Electricity/Solar/Wind, free energy, Living Off Grid, off-grid living, renewable energy, solar power
Posted by: Nancy | October 22, 2008
setting up the base of your solar panel
by Andrew Oke
“Living Off Grid Newsletter” <support@living-off-grid.com>
Hello,
The emails thanking us for this information have almost been more than we can keep up with. As promised yesterday we are going to get into building your solar panel today and where better to start than with the base?
This is an excerpt from our book “How to Build and Install Solar Panels” which can be found here:
http://www.living-off-grid.com/solar/solar-panel-easy-installation-guide
The excerpt from the book follows below:
The Base
First you will need a base to set the solar cells on to make a panel. Hopefully you ordered enough solar cells (about 80) to layout a fairly large surface area. You will notice that there are two distinct sides to a solar cell.
The front looks kind of a blue color while the back looks very much like the back of a mirror. It is essential that you set up the cells with the blue or upper surface facing toward the sun.
Each solar cell will create not much more than one half a volt DC usually. The voltage remains the same. As the size of the cells increase, depending on what you get, the current or amperage will increase.
We like to lay the solar cells out on the floor before we begin sort of like a deck of cards. Leave a space between each cell of about one quarter inch. Arrange the cells in rows until you have a shape that is pleasing to you. We like to make the finished panels slightly narrower in the width so they are easier to handle, but you can do as you like.
Once you have the cells laid out in the pattern you want measure the outside dimensions of the rows. You need to know how big to make the backing board. You will attach the solar panels to this board so you need to know how big it is.
With 80 cells you should end up with a panel that produces approximately 100 watts of power
**************
Well, I hope you liked todays tip. It came from our book “How to Build and Install Solar Panels” which can be found here:
http://www.living-off-grid.com/solar/solar-panel-easy-installation-guide
Stay tuned because tomorrow we’re going to get right into some more juicy info about building solar panels.
Until then,
Andrew
- 5 Book Deal
Posted by: Nancy | October 20, 2008
finding free solar panels #2
From: “Living Off Grid Newsletter” support@living-off-grid.com
Andrew Oke
Hello
Wow, the emails are pouring in. Everyone loves all of the information we’re giving them about off grid living.
And I’ve got more for you. Today is finding free solar panels tip #2 which comes from our book “Building and Installing Solar Panels” which can be found here:
http://www.living-off-grid.com/solar/solar-panel-easy-installation-guide
Without further ado… the second tip:
Free Solar Panels Found- Source #2
We have to give credit for this one to our good friend Bill who shared this one with us.
Here’s what he found…
Solar panels are getting better and better everyday. New manufacturing process is making them more efficient and cheaper everyday too.
Now homeowners who have had solar panels on their home, some for over 20 years are upgrading. It’s just like buying a new car every few years. Installers and dealers are now getting frequent calls from homeowners wanting to put up a new solar panel array.
What happens to the ones they replace?
They go to the dump!
Call your local dealer or installer, better yet, call a bunch of them and see if they will save out old solar panels that are being replaced. It’s that easy.
*************
While this method may take a bit more diligence than the previous method it still works. We have a couple “used” solar panels on our house as well.
If you’d like to learn more about Building and Installing Solar Panels visit the website:
http://www.living-off-grid.com/solar/solar-panel-easy-installation-guide
Tomorrow’s tip will cost you money, but it’s still a low-cost way to find solar panels.
Until tomorrow,
Andrew
Posted by: Nancy | October 20, 2008
Price Goes Up on Renewable Energy Solutions ebooks!
From Andrew Oke – Living Off-Grid
Hello,
I figured I’d give you guys a heads up about our guides. In 48 hours the price is going up. Our five book deal will now be $97 and individual books will be $34.95.
Until Wednesday October 22nd our guides will remain at their current price: 19.97 for one book and $49.97 for our five book deal.
To get in before the prices go up check out our homepage:
Posted by: Nancy | October 20, 2008
finding free solar panels #1
“Living Off Grid Newsletter” support@living-off-grid.com
by Andrew Oke
Hello,
Todays tip can literally save you $10,000 if you have the time and patience to complete it.
Today I’m going to show you how you can find free solar panels. They are in good working condition and over half of the panels on our house are free.
This tip comes from our book “Building and Installing Solar Panels” which can be found here:
http://www.living-off-grid.com/solar/solar-panel-easy-installation-guide
The excerpt follows below:
Find Free Solar Panels
Solar Panels are expensive! At $800usd for a 170 watt panel it would take over $10,000 to power the normal off grid home with solar energy. That is a lot of money for our family, a lot of money for any family in fact…
We had it in the back of our heads that there must be a source of inexpensive (preferably free) solar panels. We just had to find out where that source was?
In our search for sources of free or inexpensive solar panels we have found two sources of free solar panels! And one source of very, very inexpensive solar panels.
Free Solar Panels Found
Finding our first source of free solar panels happened quite by accident… a car accident that is. Here’ s how it went.
We were driving down the 401 highway (one of Canada’s largest divided highways). Our family was going to visit the folks where we grew up.
Driving west just before dark we noticed up ahead the dreaded ‘trail of brake lights’, indicating a traffic jam. Traffic slowed down to a crawl.
Twenty minutes, forty minutes, fifty minutes, bumper to bumper until we finally got to the scene of the crash that had caused the traffic jam. Police and tow trucks were still on the scene.
What had happened was immediately obvious. It was the beginning of a construction zone with a lane change indicated. One driver hadn’t seen the flashing mobile sign and piled right into it.The twisted wreck of the orange mobile sign told the story. There was metal and tires and solar panels on the highway.
Wait a minute! Solar Panels?
That’s right, and the light went on in my head. Here was our source of free solar panels. I asked Jane to quickly write down the name and phone number of the company written down on the sign. It was obviously a rental company.
On Monday morning we called them up to inquire about the solar panels.
The company receptionist said that ‘Yes, the signs get hit all the time, and yes, we could probably have the cracked solar panels after the insurance company looked at them.”
It turns out that this company installs 5- 65 watt solar panels on each unit.
After getting the company approval we toted away 13 slightly damaged solar panels.
The workman that we talked to at the equipment yard said that “because the panels are mounted on the top of the mobile signs, they rarely take a direct hit, and are frequently only cracked or shattered.” He didn’t know if they still worked.
After getting the panels home we wanted to know just that. Do they still work? We put them in full sunlight at noon and measured the current to see if they still produced power.
Only two of the units were ruined beyond fixing. The remaining eleven panels produced about 20 to 24 watts of power apiece in full sunshine.
That meant we had over 200 watts of solar panels, about $1000 worth for the cost of going to get them!
That is about as close to free solar panels as you will ever find. Just find out the name of the company who rent signs to the highway maintenance company and give them a call.
*************
Wow, it seems that if you look hard enough you can save money everywhere. We still have one more source of free solar panels and one source of low cost solar panels left which I’ll go over in future newsletters.
Again, that tip was from our book “Building and Installing Solar Panels” which can be found here:
http://www.living-off-grid.com/solar/solar-panel-easy-installation-guide
Stay tuned because tomorrow you’ll be getting another tip on another great source to find free solar panels.
Until then,
Andrew
- 5 Book Deal
Posted by: Nancy | October 13, 2008
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From Jeff Dedrick
Sunday, 05:10 PM
Hi,
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This is the most powerful viral marketing tool you’ll find online and it’s yours…
With Viral Ebook Explosion we hand you the professionally created ebooks to brand – and all you have to do is simply fill in your affiliate links and press a button. It’s as simple as that!
Here’s just a small fraction of what you’ll be able to do with your own Viral Ebooks:
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Posted in Affiliate Marketing, Earn Extra Money, eBooks | Tags: Affiliate Marketing, Earn Extra Money, eBooks, FREE, internet marketing
