Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows
Now that we've survived the winter solstice, let's talk about something bright and sunny: Solar Energy!
My Tesla is still several months off (July-ish), but in preparation I've re-wired my electric service at 400 amps to support the Roadster's 70-amp charger. At 220 volts, that's over fifteen thousand watts. Zzzappp!! And like many prospective owners, I've pondered whether I should add a few solar panels to my roof to help offset the electric bill.
Now, here's the confounding issue. Rincon Point is dusty. I'm not quite sure why, but around here, any clean outdoor surface soon becomes covered with a significant layer of dust. After a week or two, that becomes a rather thick layer of dust. (It could be salt spray off the ocean, or soil from the local hills, or even particulates from the nearby freeway.) For solar power, in which the most optimistic statistics are computed based on clean panels, and still take 10-20 years to break even, this is a showstopping problem, unless I'm regularly out on my roof cleaning the panels. Also, the custom work required to install the panels, on my slanted tile third-floor roof, would likely be prohibitive.
But then, the whole point is that the power flows back onto the grid, where it can be used from anywhere! So... why can't I turn the idea on its head, and place the solar panel somewhere that's NOT my house??
Here's my vision: I'd like to see a company buy up a few acres of cheap flat dust-free land (or unused flat rooftops), start setting up arrays of solar panels, and let individuals like me SPONSOR the panels (by paying the cost of installation) in exchange for a monthly rebate or credit on my electric bill. I'd gladly sponsor 10kw of solar panels in such an arrangement; the setup and maintenance of the panels would benefit from standardization and economy of scale, and I'd get both an ongoing financial benefit, and peace of mind from doing something nice for the planet. Does such an arrangement already exist? If not, it certainly should!
On the Rainbows front, I have a bone to pick with fluorescent lightbulbs. I've installed a dozen of them at my house in the past few months, and two of them have already burned out. (So much for their highly-touted 6-year lifespan. Also, if you buy a 4-pack at Home Depot and one burns out, they won't replace it. I've tried.) But I can live with that. At full brightness, they're virtually indistnguishable from incandescent, in terms of color temperature. I also like the fact that dimmable CFL's are now available; although they have a minimum brightness about 10% of maximum, as opposed to incandescent, which scales all the way to 0%. That's fine; I can live with that too. But I still highly miss the warmth of dimmed incandescents; the reddish tint really helps set a mood, whereas a dimmed CFL tends to evoke nothing more than a poorly lit public restroom.
So, I have a suggestion. Manufacturers should add a couple cheap orange LEDs to each dimmable CFL bulb, with frosted outer glass to blend the light. That way, the perceived color temperature will change as the bulb is dimmed; from bright white to dim orange! What do you think, is there a market for this?
Finally, on the Lollipops front, I don't really have much to say, except that candy canes are in season. (And particularly cheap this week.) Crunch all you want!!
My Tesla is still several months off (July-ish), but in preparation I've re-wired my electric service at 400 amps to support the Roadster's 70-amp charger. At 220 volts, that's over fifteen thousand watts. Zzzappp!! And like many prospective owners, I've pondered whether I should add a few solar panels to my roof to help offset the electric bill.
Now, here's the confounding issue. Rincon Point is dusty. I'm not quite sure why, but around here, any clean outdoor surface soon becomes covered with a significant layer of dust. After a week or two, that becomes a rather thick layer of dust. (It could be salt spray off the ocean, or soil from the local hills, or even particulates from the nearby freeway.) For solar power, in which the most optimistic statistics are computed based on clean panels, and still take 10-20 years to break even, this is a showstopping problem, unless I'm regularly out on my roof cleaning the panels. Also, the custom work required to install the panels, on my slanted tile third-floor roof, would likely be prohibitive.
But then, the whole point is that the power flows back onto the grid, where it can be used from anywhere! So... why can't I turn the idea on its head, and place the solar panel somewhere that's NOT my house??
Here's my vision: I'd like to see a company buy up a few acres of cheap flat dust-free land (or unused flat rooftops), start setting up arrays of solar panels, and let individuals like me SPONSOR the panels (by paying the cost of installation) in exchange for a monthly rebate or credit on my electric bill. I'd gladly sponsor 10kw of solar panels in such an arrangement; the setup and maintenance of the panels would benefit from standardization and economy of scale, and I'd get both an ongoing financial benefit, and peace of mind from doing something nice for the planet. Does such an arrangement already exist? If not, it certainly should!
On the Rainbows front, I have a bone to pick with fluorescent lightbulbs. I've installed a dozen of them at my house in the past few months, and two of them have already burned out. (So much for their highly-touted 6-year lifespan. Also, if you buy a 4-pack at Home Depot and one burns out, they won't replace it. I've tried.) But I can live with that. At full brightness, they're virtually indistnguishable from incandescent, in terms of color temperature. I also like the fact that dimmable CFL's are now available; although they have a minimum brightness about 10% of maximum, as opposed to incandescent, which scales all the way to 0%. That's fine; I can live with that too. But I still highly miss the warmth of dimmed incandescents; the reddish tint really helps set a mood, whereas a dimmed CFL tends to evoke nothing more than a poorly lit public restroom.
So, I have a suggestion. Manufacturers should add a couple cheap orange LEDs to each dimmable CFL bulb, with frosted outer glass to blend the light. That way, the perceived color temperature will change as the bulb is dimmed; from bright white to dim orange! What do you think, is there a market for this?
Finally, on the Lollipops front, I don't really have much to say, except that candy canes are in season. (And particularly cheap this week.) Crunch all you want!!
posted by Ben Weiss at
1:31 AM
7 Comments:
If you want dimmable CFLs, don't use screw-in bulbs that just replace incandescents, with cheap throw-away ballasts. I am finishing a remodel with integrated CFL fixtures with Lutron 1% dimming ballasts. The quality of light is vastly better than what you will get from any screw-in bulb with a disposable ballast.
Ben,
I saw your post on Martin Eberhard's site. The idea you had about individuals/investors pooling funds to invest in renewable energy is greatly aided by the policy innovation called the "feed-in tariff" which in a number of European countries guarantee a premium payment for renewable electricity generation for a number of years. These become solid long-term investments for small and large investors alike. More info can be found here:
http://www.wind-works.org/articles/feed_laws.html
David,
Thanks for the suggestion on the ballasts. I'm still more interested in the idea of getting warmer light when the CFL is dimmed, which an integrated red/orange LED could accomplish. Can your integrated dimmable CFL fixtures work with non-"dimmable" CFL bulbs? And does the 1% mean they can be dimmed down to 1% of the normal brightness?
Michael,
Thanks for the link; very interesting. Let's hope something like this comes along in the US sometime soon!
CFL bulbs are just bulbs, they are all dimmable if you have a dimming ballast. Yes, the Lutron ballasts go down to 1% of full power; I don't know if this is exactly the same as 1% of light output, but it is close. I can try to measure it. I agree that the light does get more blueish as you dim it. I'm skeptical about how much you could offset this effect with LEDs, but you could try. If you want to dim to very low levels, it would probably make more sense to just turn off the CFL and turn on a white LED.
I am also on the Tesla list, also recently rewired my garage with 400 amp service, as well as adding sound insulation (the car is noisy when charging). But I am starting to get doubtful about whether we will actually see the car.
I think the "blueness" of dimming CFL's is actually an illusion. Our minds are so conditioned from incandescent bulbs (as well as sunlight, which gets redder at sunrise and sunset) that a dim "white" light seems blue. The actual color temperature for a dimmed CFL doesn't change; it stays right around 2700 degrees, but we're so conditioned by incandescent bulbs that go to 1700 degrees when dimmed (the color of a match flame) that the 2700° CFL light just seems really blue by comparison. Adding a constant-brightness orange LED to a dimmable CFL bulb would approximate the blackbody spectrum much better, and I think it would look a lot nicer.
I'll have to investigate your custom CFL ballasts; so far I've just retrofit my existing dimmable sockets ( 30 years old or so) with "dimmable" CFL's with self-contained ballasts. I presume your Lutron sockets work properly with non-"dimmable" CFL bulbs? That's a nice feature.
Finally, I'm #108 on the Tesla list, so I'm expecting my car around August or so, best-case. (Realistically, November.) Tesla told me they expect to have the transmission issues solved by the time my car gets built, so I won't have to deal with the "interim" transmission. Fingers crossed. How complicated was the 400-amp upgrade on your end? It turned into a pretty huge project here; new trenching and conduits, two electrical meters, and a lot of custom work. It better all not have been for nothing! :-)
I think my dimmable CFLs do get more blue as they are dimmed, although I don't know the exact mechanism for this. By comparison to an incandescent nightlight, for example, they seem significantly bluer at the same light level. I will try to take some photos.
The color shift could depend on the particular bulb (i.e., manufacturer). Since a typical high-CRI CFL bulb uses multiple phosphors, each of which has a different excitation profile, the color performance could be quite complicated. Standard CFL bulbs with 4-pin connectors are available from several different manufacturers (these are not the screw-in bulbs with integrated ballasts that you buy at the grocery store or Home Depot).
My electrical upgrade wasn't too bad, although it's not actually done yet so I shouldn't be overly confident. I was remodeling my house and replacing all of the electrical wiring anyway; compared to all that work, the part that was for the Tesla charger was trivial. The biggest problem was that we discovered an abandoned oil tank while digging the trench, that turned into an expensive cleanup and removal project.
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