RREAL's panel gets certified!

Jason and the team at the the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL) have finally achieved SRCC certification for their hot-air solar furnace. These are the panels which are installed on the Mani-shop. Here is RREAL's press release:

"The Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL), Minnesota manufacturer of the Solar Powered Furnace (SPF), recently received notification that the SRCC (Solar Rating Certification Corporation) had completed testing and certification of its solar heat collector. The patent-pending SPF solar collector was submitted for testing in 2007 and fully certified for use in the United States in April of 2010.
SRCC certification has a number of significant benefits for RREAL and its SPF. The first and most important benefit is that consumers can rest assured that the SPF solar heating system will operate as advertised because the efficiency and performance of the SPF solar collector has been independently verified. The second great benefit of SRCC Certification for RREAL’s solar collectors is that systems will now qualify for incentives and rebates. These incentives can help pay some of the initial cost of a SPF solar heating system. While there are currently no tax incentives for solar air heat at the Federal level, many states, including the state of Minnesota, offer incentives. State and local incentives vary from place to place, but often include one, or more, of the following; state income tax credits, cash rebates, sales tax exemptions and property tax increase exemptions. Minnesota is one of the few states with a cash rebate for solar air heat up to $2000 for single family homes and $4000 for multi-family dwellings. Detailed application instructions for Minnesota residents can be found at the Minnesota Department of Commerce website.

SRCC determined that RREAL’s Solar Powered Furnace is the most efficient and solar collector on the market. RREAL can now produce the most cost-effective solar heating systems with the lowest initial investment, shortest payback period and highest overall return on your investment. "

Congratulations, RREAL!

Landscape Changes to the HUG campus

We are making changes to the campus landscaping in order to improve traffic flow. We are also looking forward to the added greenery and gardens that we will have room for. The photos show Jim moving gravel from the west side of the mani shop to the north side.

New ARC'08 solar panels

We spent the better part of the last two days installing the new hot water solar panels inthe ARC '08. Marlon and Dan installed new trusses to reinforce the wall, and to bring the panels out from under the overhang, which will expose them to more sunlight in the summer months.
Wayne designed the mounting system and plumbing. Jake, Jeff, and Ryan put a lot of effort into hoisting the panels up and mounting them according to plans.

solar powered sprayer/waterer complete!

We added a broadcast sprayer -accumulator, and pressure switch to the solar powered sprayer/waterer. Everything works as planned, and we are now using it for various chores around the campus.

The not-so wise young owl...

We were informed today that the young owl's wing was too broken to repair, so they had to put him to sleep. We hope that bringing him down there will help the raptor center in their mission of understanding these beautiful creatures, and how they fit into our world. R.I.P., young friend!

The not-so wise young owl - UPDATE

This is from Scott this afternoon:
"The owl was delivered to the Raptor Center in good condition, awake and
aware.  They didn't have a status on him yet when I left, but you can
call 612-626-3784 to get status information on him.  Just tell them that
it was a great horned owl dropped off May 6th at 1pm.  They suggested to
wait 1-2 days before calling.

They also request (but not require) that donations be given to help pay
for the birds care."

Here is the  web address to make a donation:

http://www.cvm.umn.edu/raptor/donate/home.html

You can also mail or phone a donation at:

To mail your donation
To mail your donation, please send your check or credit card number (with expiration date), along with your name, address, and telephone number to The Raptor Center, 1920 Fitch Ave., St. Paul, MN, 55108.

To make a donation by phone
Call Amber Burnette at 612-624-3391.

The not-so wise young owl

We had an unannounced visitor today at the mani-shop. A young Great Horned Owl was found by Barb W. outside of the greenhouse. It appears to have a broken wing, so we assume that it hit the greenhouse window. We decided to send it to the Raptor center at the U of M. Scott was heading down there today, so as of this posting, the young visitor was speeding on his way. We hope that they are able to treat him and release him to the wild. We will post updates as we learn more. Good Luck, young friend!

Whoops! Too Hot! Part V

The new solar panels have finally arrived. Paul, Ryan, and Wayne have been busy designing the mounting system. The next shipment of polyurethane adhesive has also arrived, and we finished injecting it into the SIPS panels to ensure that the OSB is bonded to the polystyrene. The results of that endeavor aren't pretty, but we are now reasonably confident that the strength and integrity of the walls have been restored. The photos show the repaired wall, Wayne's design prints, and the new solar panels. Also shown is a sample panel that is on loan from RREAL to help with our mounting design.

People powered generator III

We installed a new generator on the pedal assembly. This one has a higher output. We were able to get about 50 watts of output without too much effort. We will continue to work on improving the output of the generator.

water preheat on air exchange.

We had a brief but intense brainstorm on air exchangers this morning. Paul would like to try a system which would use water to preheat the incoming air. The system could also be used to cool the air in the summer. We are currently looking at two different systems: the first would use small radiators to isolate the water from the air, and the second system would allow water to contact the incoming airstream. More calculations and design work needs to be completed before we can begin to prototype either design.