Tiny Solar Solutions

By Hannah West

As we are better learning to harness the vast supply of energy that beams down on us every day, a wider range of solar powered products are becoming available. This is exciting news both for those who can’t afford a full solar power system in their home and those who already have one but are looking for additional solar solutions—basically for anyone passionate about conserving energy. As an added bonus, solar powered products are great for when you’re out and about, roadtripping, camping, or for when someone’s already claimed the last plug outlet at your favorite coffee shop. Here are a few that we at Modernize are particularly excited about:

Device Charger

Via Ubergizmo

A dead phone battery is merely inconvenient in some situations, but it can be dangerous in others. Whether you’re running errands or exploring wilderness, a solar charger is an amazing solution that almost feels too easy. That’s the beauty of solar power! There are plenty of solar chargers out there—like the Gomadic SunVolt above—that can power up a number of electronic devices, so do your research before settling on one that just charges your phone or laptop.

Oven

Via SolarTown

Solar ovens could not be more perfect for camping. Instead of hovering over food while it’s cooking on the fire, you can set it in the oven and let it sit for hours while you’re busy doing other fun activities. Solar ovens are portable and so simple that you can easily make your own.

Outdoor Lights

Via My Fancy House

Because solar lights don’t need electrical wiring, you can put them anywhere you want on your property. Just make sure they’re in an optimum spot to soak up the sunlight so they can illuminate your yard at night.

Backpack

Via Birksun

A backpack with a built-in lightweight solar panel and USB connections will prevent you from ever fearing that red battery signal again. Whether you’re a student or a world traveler, a solar powered backpack will take away the stumbling block of running out of juice in a fast-paced world.

Tent

Via Bang Bang Tents

Yet another solution to the pervasive problem of getting power into our portable devices, the solar tent will allow campers to use camping gear and devices without worrying about proximity to electrical hookups. While solar tents are not yet widely available, there’s no doubt they’ll be popular with the festival-going crowds as soon as they hit the markets!

Will the Arctic really melt?

The thought of the Arctic Ice Cap melting is pretty scary. It's likely Europe would be plunged into an ice age as the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt gets shut down or re-routed.

However I noticed that the minimum, while getting lower, always turns around by the equinox. And when I sketch in a trend line for the minimums, it intersects the ice extent at right around 3.5 million square kilometers of ice. Analyzing the data this way suggests the Arctic Ocean won't become entirely ice free.

What actually determines the minimum? If it's the amount of ice that builds over the winter, and that amount continues to build up as it has in the past, then it sure looks like we're going to have ice in the Arctic.

Replacing the Water Heater Becomes an Exercise in Earthquake Preparedness

Here's our new plumbing, with shut-off valves in sensible places. I learned how to sweat copper pipe. It's fun and easy and I was much better at it at first than I was later. But the nice folks at Ace sold me some moldable epoxy resin for stopping the last leak. If I'd bothered to ask them about this stuff in the first place, I wouldn't have learned how to sweat copper.

Being without water was more of a hardship for me than for anyone else here. The time became an exercise in living without easy access to water, such as could happen after a natural catastrophe. We dipped into our earthquake supplies for drinking water, and even made coffee each morning. Nini told me, "My daughter and I each took a bath with about a cup and a half of water. We got a hand towel wet, rubbed our faces clean, and then all the rest of our bodies. I feel quite refreshed."

Understand that Nini is a Burner, so she's probably more comfortable than most suburban dwellers with a certain level of crustiness.

We had it sort of soft, too. We used the facilities at the common house for or bowel movements, so our toilets were filled with merely urine. As I relieved myself on evening, I thought, "This system doesn't even have to be based around water consumption. That's perhaps a hidden benefit of a composting toilet."

After the water was back on, I saw Nini. "Thanks for your postive attitude through all this," I said.

"Oh, not a problem at all."

Crafty Girl said, "Hey Bob, guess what? The water is back on!"

"Yep, isn't it great? But you know what? As I went through the last couple of days, I thougth about what it might be like to pretend that all the services were cut off, and see how we do, sort of like practicing for a really big earthquake."

Nini paused. "Yeah, that could be fun."

"Not even electricity," I said.

"What would we do for lights?" asked Crafty Girl.

"Whatever you've got packed in your earthquake survival kit," I said.

"Oo, I think all we have are candles," said Nini.

I think I'll mention this idea at our next house meeting. Being prepared for things we can somewhat expect is pretty important.

More Flooding

I gave myself the evening off from everything to go to a party. I went to dinner first, and about 8 o'clock I glanced at my phone.

I had missed calls from Betsy, Nicholas, Karl, and Xena, and received one phone message. I checked the message.

"Bob! Where's the water main! I'm standing in 2" of water! Please call! Call right away!"

I called home. Panic embodied reached through the phone, clutching at me as though straw before a drowning man. "We still can't find it! Where's the main!"

"You traced the line back towards the street?"

"Yes! Yes! There's nothing! We're standing in water, the valve shuts down the house but not the heater, there's water spraying out the bottom of the tank I've ruined all the towels and I hate this! Where's the main valve!? Here, talk with Betsy!"

"Hi Bob, this is quite a situation. Where's the main valve?"

"I don't know, I've never had to turn it. Where are you right now? What valve did you turn?"

"There's a valve above the heater, but it doesn't shut off the water to the heater. Okay, I'm out front, looking for the valve. Here's Jori."

"Hi Bob, where's the main valve?"

"Hi Jori, Go look between the sidewalk and the street."

"We're all out here, but we don't see anything."

"Go look near the walk-in gate."

"I don't see anything."

"It could be buried."

"Oh, okay, wait a minute... I found it! Hey guys, here it is! Get me something to open the top."

"Jori... Jori! Hello?"

"We found it."

"Good. You don't need a tool to open it. Just use your fingers."

"Got it. Hey, Betsy, I don't need a pry bar! Wow, it's full of dirt. I'm digging it out, now. Wow, this is good dirt. Hey, I need a wrench or something. Karl's got a wrench, he's turning it off now. Do you want to talk to Xena? Here's Xena."

"Bob, I called East Bay Mud an hour ago to come turn off the main, so now I'm going to call them back and tell them not to come. I'm getting off the phone now."

The line went dead.

Shall I stay at the party? I wondered. I sent a text: Shall I come home and clean, or leave early so I can wake up and start on this first thing in the morning? I ddidn't get an answer so I decided I'd put it out of my head and stay to party. I managed pretty well to stay present in the party atmosphere. It helped that I knew there were a bunch of people already handling the emergency part and that my part, of fixing the problem, would necessarily wait until the stores opened the next day.