The Solar Energy Industry Grew 67% Last Year: Are You Making the Best Decision for Your Future?

Are you considering using renewable energy resources to heat water or generate electricity?

Would you like to be independent from the grid?

Do you want to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions you and your family produce?

Great! You are not alone in your quest.

The demand for solar power energy is growing. Rapidly! As the world’s fastest growing energy source, statistics show 40% growth in 2002 and a whopping 67% in 2004.Millions of people are making better choices for themselves, the environment and in turn the future of their children.

You can be one of them by installing a Solar Energy hot water or electric system. It will be one of the best choices you’ve ever made. You can even make a difference to the environment by purchasing solar energy products such as solar yard lights or solar pool covers. Imagine showing off your new solar fountain at your next dinner party or a few solar pool lights floating in your pool.

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Choosing The Proper Cables

Research & Development I began designing audio and video interconnect cables in 1988. I was asked to develop custom interconnects for discriminating audio and videophiles, who wanted to see and hear the quality of their components and the source material without added personality from their interconnects. The cables I constructed were created to solve two specific problems in interconnect design. Prior to this point these problems had not been addressed in the ever-changing field of high-end audio/video. The first was the subtle size difference of the RCA connectors used in the manufacture of mid-fi and high-end components. The second was the inherent loss of information through long runs of cable. It was also important that the interconnects allow our clients the freedom to combine components regardless of the type of connectors utilized by the various manufacturers. The custom cables had to carry information without signal loss and not be limited to short runs. The custom cables had to be extremely flexible and durable to adapt for custom installations. Most importantly they had to maintain state of the art quality while remaining cost effective.
End Connectors
Each connector must tolerate the extreme heat generated by the melting of silver solder at the point of termination. The connector used should be chosen for its compatibility with the wire. Proper strain relief is also a crucial factor in interconnect design. It is important that the wire and connector have a seamless integration. Every pair should be matched and tested for continuity and fit. The connection should then be insulated with heatshrink, to protect against contamination and to create a more durable termination. In a quality interconnect, all of these processes are done by hand, one cable at a time. This combination of quality parts and craftsmanship is essential to the manufacture of a superior interconnect. Low Capacitance
Research indicates that Low Capacitance is the most relevant aspect of design for Analog or Digital Audio and Video Interconnect Cables. Capacitance is determined by the number and thickness of the center conductors in relationship to the outside shield. The material and thickness of the dielectric insulation also determines capacitance. Low Capacitance custom cable provides the best imaging and sound staging in analog audio and digital audio as well as the most accurate contrast and definition in video. This is especially true where long cable runs are required. Over the years, speaker wire manufacturers have shown the importance of heavy gauge wire between the amplifier and the speakers to reduce resistance in the signal path. This notion of “The Heavier The Better” has erroneously been passed on to purchasers of interconnect cables for their components. When dealing with low millivolt signals from component to component, Low Capacitance (measured in picofarads) is the most relevant specification in cutting signal loss. It is not necessary for interconnect cables to be bulky and hard to use. In fact, Low Capacitance Interconnects are rarely heavy gauge and can be very flexible. Flexibility enables a cable to be angled to whatever configuration necessary, without affecting the integrity of the design. A cable should be selected for its purity, flexibility, durability, capacitance and individual specifications for its designated application.

Ross Anderson
CEWL® Custom Connections
http://www.cewlconnections.com

Thinking about installing a home theater system? You’re not alone. Home theater is one of the fastest growing areas areas in home entertainment and the advent of DVD recorders and HDTV means your set-up can now be entirely digital, without an inch of video tape in site.

Installing a home theater is a big decision and requires careful planning. Luckily there are a number of resources around to help you and you needn’t be a technical expert or a hi-fi buff to get the job done.

One of the first decisions you’ll need to make before you set about installing a home theater is whether your going to dedicate a whole room to the theater or whether it will share a space with a lounge, dining room, or office. Having a dedicated room allows you to position seating and speakers in the optimum position and you can seriously consider a projector and screen without it looking as out of place as it might in your living room.

Obviously budget is another consideration and this will dictate which equipment you buy initially and what you save for another day. As a bare minimum you’ll want a DVD player, widescreen television, and a surround sound audio amplifier and speakers. We’d recommend opting for a DVD recorder like this one from Phillips, or this from Panasonic. They’re obviously more expensive than a DVD player, but will give you much greater flexibility. And don’t forget to budget for cabling, its a very important part of installing a home theatre and one that’s often overlooked.

You’ll also want to think about the interior design of a dedicated home theater room and of course the seating is all important. You’re going to spend hours and hours watching movies and the last thing you need is uncomfortable seats.

Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tuner, a site which aims to cut through the confusion surrounding HDTV and provide surfers with up to date, accurate and easy to read information on HDTV.

The Holy Grail of distributed audio; unlimited zones and unlimited sources, cost effectively. That milestone will be achieved, and soon, through the combination of digital amplification and IP based distribution systems. There are systems available today that use one or both of these technologies, such as Oxmoor’s Zon system and Netlinks’ Netstreams product line. The trend will only continue to grow.

The beauty of this approach is that digital music is data, and, as such, can be distributed easily via an Ethernet network. The traditional concept of zones virtually disappears, as each amplifier on the network gets a unique IP address, enabling an audio stream to be routed to it. When combined with a digital music server, the number of zones is limited only by the ability of the server to serve independent audio streams.

The advent of cost effective digital amplification, produced by companies such as D2 Audio and Flying Mole, allows a small, highly efficient audio amplifier to be located close to the speakers, either in the room or mounted in an electrical box. The logical evolution of this approach is to collocate amplifier with the speaker, creating an active speaker. Additional benefits are realized by incorporating the speaker as part of the circuit. This enables the designer to engineer the speaker and amplifier circuits for optimum performance as a system.

Low powered designs of this nature could take advantage of power over Ethernet (POE), simplifying system wiring by allowing a single CAT-5 cable to be run from the router to the speaker. This would not supply a large amount of power (about 15 watts) due to the constraints of the 24ga conductors used in CAT-5. However, the efficiencies gained by an integrated speaker / amplifier design would mitigate this concern to some degree. This type of system is sufficient for background music applications in many residential environments.

Higher power systems can use the existing speaker wire, in the case of a conventionally wired system, to carry power. It can / does use the existing control cable, since many systems have been wired with CAT-5 to the volume control location, for the data.

The bandwidth of a traditional 10/100 network allow, for all practical purposes, an unlimited number of zones and sources in a residential environment. Partly because of this, Audio Over Ethernet has been used successfully in the commercial audio and sound reinforcement world for a number of years now. Cobranet, from Cirrus Logic is the most popular commercial AOE system used today. Another popular system is available from Digigram. These systems both use the MAC layer of Ethernet and are not actually using IP for transmission.

For both residential and commercial applications another primary advantage of using Ethernet is the ability to use the medium for transporting both audio and control signals down the same wire. This increases flexibility and reduces cost for both installation and material.

As was true in the commercial world, the distribution of audio (and soon, video) and control via Ethernet will continue to proliferate in residential distributed audio applications. The combination of flexibility, cost effectiveness and capability are to attractive to be ignored.

Steve Faber has almost 15 years in the custom installation industry. He is a CEDIA certified designer and Installer 2 with certifications from both the ISF and THX. His experience spans many facets of the industry, from the trenches as an installer and control systems programmer, and system designer, to a business unit director for a specialty importer of high end audio video equipment, a sales rep for a large, regional consumer electronics distributor, and principal of a $1.5M+ custom installation firm. Steve is currently is senior sales engineer for Digital Cinema Design, a CEDIA member firm in Redmond, WA. He is on the web at http://www.1touchmovie.com

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It happens to countless homeowners around the end of the year - you make the annual visit to your attic to collect the holiday decorations and what do you find? Spots and blotches covering the bottom of the roof sheathing.

Worse yet - it turns out to be attic mold!

What does energy conservation have to do with mold in the attic? Well if you take a step back and consider how the house behaves as system, they are often directly related.

Building science experts have long been using the “house as a system” approach to diagnose the cause and origin of building defects.

For example, ice dams. These are often caused by warm air seeping into the attic which causes the snow and ice on the roof to melt. The water drains to the edge of the roof (which is colder than the rest of the roof because it is an overhang and not warmed by the attic), freezes and creates an ice dam. As this process is repeated daily, the ice dam grows larger. Eventually water is forced under a shingle where it can seep into the house.

Understanding how the house behaves as a system and the various causes and effects is necessary to diagnose most building related problems.

But how about that attic mold? How did it get there?

Mold requires chronic moisture to form and to thrive, so source(s) of moisture must be present. Possibly the moisture came from outdoors. The roof is newer and a quick check of the roof shows no obvious damage or leaks.

Possibly the moisture came from indoors. During the heating season, the interior of the house frequently has high moisture levels, especially bathrooms and kitchens. A quick check shows that all bathroom fans, kitchen vents, etc. are properly ducted completely outdoors and not into the attic. The amount of insulation looks good and the attic is well ventilated.

Don’t give up - you are almost there! Remember the house as a system? You know that warm, moist air is in the house, but how is it getting into the attic?

By air leaks! Air leaks are the leading source of energy loss in most houses, and a frequent source of chronic moisture that can cause attic mold.

Most homeowners are well aware of air leaks around windows and doors (especially old ones), but many overlook the numerous gaps leading directly into the attic!

Have a look around the attic and you may find large gaps around recessed lights and fans, holes where wires or pipes are installed, even large gaps around the chimney.

And don’t overlook the whole house fan and especially the folding attic stair - a big, uninsulated hole in your ceiling that is often overlooked!

These gaps can add up to a large hole that allows warm, moist air from the house to flow right into the cold attic. The warm moist air condenses on the cold roof sheathing, creating chronically damp conditions that can lead to attic mold growth. And the energy loss - it can be like leaving a window open all winter long!

Seal these air leaks and you stop a significant moisture source. And just think of all the energy you can save and the cold drafts you can stop!

Mark D. Tyrol is a Professional Engineer specializing in cause and origin of construction defects. He developed several residential energy conservation products including an attic stair cover and a fireplace draftstopper. To learn more visit http://www.batticdoor.com

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Purchasing an air purifier can be confusing, and you do get an awful lot of information thrown at you when you visit the different manufacturing websites, don’t you? How can you tell what’s what, and why do we need air filters anyway? And how do air purifiers work? Is the air really that bad? Haven’t we been breathing the same air for thousands of years?

Yes and no. First of all, we’ve been breathing the same air for thousands of years, but we live in a symbiotic relationship with the plants around us ? that is, we rely on each other to survive. We breathe oxygen to live, and give off carbon dioxide. Plants exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen, effectively “exchanging” the air in a healthy relationship with us. This makes plants the first primitive air purifiers on earth, and explains why scientists are so concerned about the ecological balance on earth and the need for the survival of rain forests and plants ? they ensure our own survival as well by preserving oxygen in our atmosphere.

Nature cleans the air in other ways as well ? ozone (positively charged oxygen molecules) is generated by waterfalls and thunderstorms. Ozone also cleans impurities and particulates from the air naturally.

The Industrial Revolution and Air Quality

The industrial revolution made great strides in everything but air quality. In fact, pollution such as emissions from automobiles, smog and pollution from everyday chemicals like cleaning fluids, carpeting and paints enter the air every day. In industrial settings, air purifiers clean the air before it is released into the atmosphere in order to meet government requirements.

Today’s homes are also more energy efficient and cost effective, but to get there they have become much more “closed in.” When they are this sealed up, indoor pollutants are shut in so that today’s homes are actually two to five times more polluted than outdoor levels! Obviously, air purifiers are essential to improving indoor air quality to combat the effects of this stale, recirculated air.

Beginning in the 1980’s, medical practitioners began to take note of the direct link between poor air indoor air quality and the increased incidence of conditions such as asthma, allergies and recurring colds and upper respiratory infections. The development of a variety of improved, scaled-down air filtration systems for in-home use soon emerged.

How the Main Types of Air Purifiers Work

One of the most commonly used type of air purifier is also one of the first developed, and is used in most hospitals and clean rooms. This is the HEPA filter.

HEPA Filters

During the Manhattan Project in the 1940’s, the Arthur D. Little firm developed the first HEPA filters in order to filter out very small particles that had become contaminated by nuclear radiation in atomic bomb testing areas. It was during this initial development that the HEPA standards were set at 0.3 microns, which could effectively capture condensed radioactive iodine.

The filters at that time were called “absolute filters,” and not called HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) until the filters were marketed in the 1950’s. Today these filters are used by hospitals, surgical wards, biopharmaceutical research labs, micro circuitry labs, and the aerospace industry for their exceptional ability to control dust and particulates.

HEPAs remove 99.97% of particles of 0.3 microns or larger. For even more intense filtration, there is an ULPA, or Ultra-HEPA filter, which filters out 99.99% of contaminants pass through the filter.

Obviously, something has to draw the air through the filter, and with HEPA filters this is a motorized fan. This can make them noisy, which makes them an annoyance to some people. A HEPA filter will need to be replaced every 12-18 months, depending upon how it is used and the interior environment of your home. For instance, if you have pets, especially cats or dogs that shed a lot, you may need to change it more frequently because of the dander. If there are smokers in the house you will also need to change your air filter more frequently to ensure proper filtration.

However, for overall performance, nothing filters out or eliminates more particulates than a HEPA filter, so it is a matter of balancing cost, sound preference and convenience against your relative needs when choosing the right model of air cleaner for your home.

Ozone Air Purifiers

Ozone is created in nature by everything from waterfalls to thunderstorms, and is responsible for that fresh, clear smell after a heavy rain or storm has passed. It’s nature’s way of cleaning the air. Ozone air purifiers essentially do the same thing indoors by artificially mimicking the natural process that creates ozone.

Ozone molecules exist in the air all around us, and will react with any particles they come into contact with, but are very unstable and tend to exist in small quantities for short periods of time.

Ozone air purifiers work by using electricity to generate more ozone molecules, which have one more oxygen (O3) than we normally have in the air (O2) around us. Since ozone is highly unstable, one of the oxygen atoms is always inclined to break away and find another molecule to bond to. This process causes a chemical reaction which destroys odors and germs in the air and then converts what is left of the molecules into harmless oxygen and CO2.

There is some confusion between ozone air cleaners and ionic air cleaners, but there are some differences. With an ozone air purifier, the ozone that is released into the air will be unstable and cause a reaction that will alter and destroy certain germs, viruses, bacteria and molds. It does not, however, have a collection plate where dirt or grime collects.

Ionic Air Cleaners

An ionic air cleaner also uses electrical charges to alter oxygen atoms in the air, like an ozone air cleaner. But unlike an ozone cleaner, an ionic air cleaner will rid the air your breathe of dust and pollen as well.

Ionic air cleaners negatively charge the air particles in a room, which will cause a magnetic attraction to occur. The positively charged particles in the air, such as dust, pollen and pet dander, will naturally be attracted to these and they will “cling” to each other, creating a sort of magnetic bond. Particles that form into bonds like this become too heavy to remain suspended in the air and fall to the ground, where you will no longer be able to breathe them into your system.

Vacuuming and regular dusting can get rid of these particles. In today’s ionic cleaners, there are also fans that move the room air over negatively charged metal collection plates that the positively charged particulates will stick to. These can be regularly cleaned by simply wiping them with a soft cloth.

Electrostatic Precipitators

The original electrostatic precipitators were huge monsters used to control pollution emissions from industrial plants. The waste by-products of a plant were sent through large chambers that were charged by electrodes that acted as enormous collection plates to attract the oppositely charged waste products (such as dust, lead, sulfur, fly ash and other hazardous chemicals) from the materials passing through, filtering out all harmful materials. Periodically, the precipitators would be “tapped” so that these materials could be dumped from the chambers into disposal units.
Home electrostatic precipitators also work on the theory of using a negative charge and a positive charge to collect and retain particulates, however, the charge takes place within the air purifier itself rather than in huge chambers, and the dust and particulates are captured on metal filters that can be removed and cleaned or replaced, getting rid of the need for a separate collection chamber for the particulates.

Electrostatic Filters

With electrostatic filters, a small static charge is created that attracts airborne particles as they go through a filter, capturing even those particulates which are too small too be captured by the relatively loose weave of the filter itself. Because of the looser weave, the air flow in an electrostatic filter is very good, but the filtration is very effective because of the electrostatic charge.

These filters do have to be carefully maintained and cleaned at least monthly, and should be replaced every year for peak effectiveness. As the filters do become dirtier, the air flow will become less efficient.

Finally, there are systems that combine two or more types of air purification system. While these are usually more expensive, they can be worth the price if you are looking for the best possible combination of features. For instance, an air purifier that will kill viruses and bacteria like an ozone air purifier, but will also effectively filter out dust and dander with a HEPA filter.

About the Author
Lori Wilkerson is a full-time freelance writer. Right now she knows a little bit about almost everything and a lot aboutelectrical air purifiers, HEPA air cleaners, and whole house air purifiers. Her own home is polluted with several hundred books, pet dander and roving bands of teenagers.

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If you would like to make your existing home more energy efficient and get some help paying for the improvements, you need to know about the Energy Tax Incentives Act of 2005. The new law provides a $500 lifetime credit against your federal income tax for the cost of certain energy-saving home improvements that you make to your home after December 31, 2005 and before January 1, 2008. Up to $200 of the tax credit may be applied to windows.

As you may know, a tax credit is far more favorable than a deduction of the same amount. Deductions only reduce the amount of income that is subject to tax. A tax credit, on the other hand, is a dollar for dollar reduction of the tax due when you file your income tax return. So, if you are in the 28% income tax bracket, the new $500 credit is equivalent to a tax deduction of nearly $1800!

Here are highlights of the new provisions:

There is an overall lifetime cap on the credit of $500, and a maximum of $200 of the credit may be applied to qualified window expenditures. Subject to those limitations, you may receive a credit for the sum of the following:

Building Envelope Components. Ten (10%) percent of your expenditures for so called “building envelope components” will qualify for the tax credit. Building envelope components include the following:

• any insulation material or system which is specifically and primarily designed to reduce the heat loss or gain of a dwelling unit when installed in or on such dwelling unit,
• exterior windows (including skylights),
• exterior doors, and
• any metal roof installed on a dwelling unit, but only if such roof has appropriate pigmented coatings which are specifically and primarily designed to reduce the heat gain of such dwelling unit.

To qualify for the credit, the building envelope components must be installed in or on a dwelling unit (including a manufactured home) located in the United States that is owned by you and used by you as your principal residence. Installation of envelope components in a second or vacation home or rental property therefore will not qualify for the new tax break.

Only new components are eligible for the credit and the components must reasonably be expected to remain in use for at least 5 years.

Energy efficient property expenditures. Amounts paid for “residential energy property expenditures” will also qualify for the credit up to the following specific limits:

• Up to $50 for any advanced main air circulating fan;
• Up to $150 for any qualified natural gas, propane or oil furnace or hot water boiler;
• Up to $300 for any item of “energy-efficient building property.” This includes certain qualifying electrical heat water pumps, electric heat pumps, geothermal heat pumps, central air conditioners and natural gas, propane or oil water heaters.

Expenditures for labor costs for onsite preparation, assembly or original installation may be included. Improvements must be installed in or in connection with a dwelling unit located in the United States that is owned by you and used by you as your principal residence.

There are energy efficiency standards described in the new law that your home improvements must meet, so some investigation on your part will be necessary to be sure that the improvements will qualify for the credit. For this reason, if you hire a third party to do the work, your written agreement with the contractor should include the contractor’s guaranty that the installed property will meet the energy efficiency standards of the new law.

There is one potential trade-off, if you use the credit. Many improvements to your home will increase your “tax basis” in the property, and this increased tax basis may, in turn, reduce the amount of capital gain that is realized if you sell your home at a profit. The increase in tax basis that would otherwise result from energy efficient improvements that qualify for the credit will be reduced by the amount of the allowed credit. Since the tax credit decreases your tax basis, you are likely to have more capital gain at the time of sale. This will not affect you if all of the capital gain realized at the time of sale is protected by the $250,000 exclusion ($500,000 for married couples) for gains realized on the sale of your principal residence. But even if there is an increase in the taxable capital gain realized when you sell your home, it will almost certainly be outweighed by the advantage of using the new income tax credit currently.

Like so much of the Internal Revenue Code, the new provisions encouraging energy efficient home improvements seem unnecessarily complicated, but we have to consider the source - Congress! However, a bit of patience and careful planning will bring you some very real tax savings and help the environment to boot!

It was only a few years ago that Real Estate agents and Builders were promoting the “Wired” feature as a must have when buying a new home. Wired meant that the home not only had cable running throughout it, but also Cat-5 wire. Cat-5 wire consists of four pairs of wire that are sheathed into one bundle, and is used for interconnecting multiple computers and computer peripherals throughout the home. Electricians went to great length to run Cat-5 throughout new homes, and homebuyers paid a handsome premium for it. Now the latest buzz from the Computer and Networking world is, “Unwire Your Home”, as the Computer/Internet world rapidly moves to wireless interconnections.

Most of the leading Personal Computer (PC) providers are major players in this paradigm shift. They are selling new technology from leading networking equipment companies that enable homeowners to wirelessly connect their Personal Computers to their Home Entertainment centers. Through a Wireless Media Adapter, connected via standard cables to the Home Entertainment Center, and a Wireless Router connected to the PC, homeowners can enjoy their digital photographs and MP3 music collection on their Televisions and play their MP3 music collection through their stereo system. Photographs and music stored on the PC are wirelessly transmitted anywhere within the home to their Home Entertainment Center.

The wireless protocol interconnecting the Media Adapter and Router is known as Wireless-B (802.11b). The Media Adapters typically include a Remote Control, and have user-friendly menus that are displayed on the TV. They can support JPEG, GIF, TIF, and BMP type file formats and the Remote Control can also be used for browsing your MP3 or WMA formatted music collection. Today, the cost for a wireless Media Adapter is around $100, and the cost for a wireless Router is around $50.

There is still a benefit for some Cat-5 wire in the home, but without a doubt, wireless is the present and future technology for interconnecting home electronics. Definitely take a look at these products prior to paying any type of “wired” premium on a new home.

Me_Donovan@comcast.net
http://www.homeadditionplus.com
http://www.homeaddition.blogspot.com

Over the past 20+ years Mr. Donovan has been involved with building homes and additions to homes. His projects have included: building a vacation home, building additions and garages on to existing homes, and finishing unfinished homes. Mr. Donovan’s formal education and profession have been as an Electrical Engineer and Marketing Manager.