Let me start off by saying we (my family and I) live completely, 100% “off
of the grid and are completely self sufficient”
The house is built utilizing natures natural elements, in the shape of an
octagon with 8ft wide arch doors on every wall to catch every angle of wind
(typical 4 sided homes have half the chance as one with 8 sides. A circle
being the most efficient design). Woodburning stoves, solar chimney, solar
AC, solar heating, solar water heating (pool and home), solar stove, solar
power, wind power, hydrogen powered back up generator, hydrogen back up
water heater, hydrogen stove, 2 hydrogen powered trucks, 1 EV (electric
vehicle) and satellite internet.
There are no utility lines, no water lines, no roads, tv, cell service,
etc. on our ranch. EVERYTHING needed is produced here. All electricity
comes from 27 solar panels, 2 main wind gens and a back hydrogen generator
if needed (typically we can last 9 days with all luxuries of sunless
windless weather, hasn't happened yet). Water is caught and storaged from
the rain. Hot water is made with solar batch water heaters with an
on-demand hydrogen hot water heater as backup. Even our vehicles use
alternative energy (2 hydrogen trucks, 1 EV electric vehicle converted).
Because of this we have no bills, no debt and no mortgage.
The fallowing steps were taking directly out of a DIY guide I offer to
those who would like to run their homes on solar power safely, reducing
their monthly utility bills or even selling power back the the electrical
companies. The entire guide is available at www.agua-luna.com . Its pretty
simple but if you have any problems feel free to contact me directly I can
walk you through the process.
Materials you will need
A sheet of copper flashing from the hardware store. This normally costs
about $5.00 per square foot. We will need about half a square foot.
Two alligator clip leads.
A sensitive micro-ammeter that can read currents between 10 and 50
microamperes. Radio Shack sells small LCD multimeters that will do, but I
used a small surplus meter with a needle.
An electric stove. My kitchen stove is gas, so I bought a small one-burner
electric hotplate for about $25. The little 700 watt burners probably won't
work -- mine is 1100 watts, so the burner gets red hot.
A large clear plastic bottle off of which you can cut the top. I used a 2
liter spring water bottle. A large mouth glass jar will also work.
Table salt. We will want a couple tablespoons of salt.
Tap water.
Sand paper or a wire brush on an electric drill.
Sheet metal shears for cutting the copper sheet.
The first step is to cut a piece of the copper sheeting that is about the
size of the burner on the stove. Wash your hands so they don't have any
grease or oil on them. Then wash the copper sheet with soap or cleanser to
get any oil or grease off of it. Use the sandpaper or wire brush to
thoroughly clean the copper sheeting, so that any sulphide or other light
corrosion is removed.
Next, place the cleaned and dried copper sheet on the burner and turn the
burner to its highest setting.
As the copper starts to heat up, you will see beautiful oxidation patterns
begin to form. Oranges, purples, and reds will cover the copper.
As the copper gets hotter, the colors are replaced with a black coating of
cupric oxide. This is not the oxide we want, but it will flake off later,
showing the reds, oranges, pinks, and purples of the cuprous oxide layer
underneath.
The last bits of color disappear as the burner starts to glow red.
When the burner is glowing red-hot, the sheet of copper will be coated with
a black cupric oxide coat. Let it cook for a half an hour, so the black
coating will be thick. This is important, since a thick coating will flake
off nicely, while a thin coat will stay stuck to the copper.
After the half hour of cooking, turn off the burner. Leave the hot copper
on the burner to cool slowly. If you cool it too quickly, the black oxide
will stay stuck to the copper.
As the copper cools, it shrinks. The black cupric oxide also shrinks. But
they shrink at different rates, which makes the black cupric oxide flake
off.
The little black flakes pop off the copper with enough force to make them
fly a few inches. This means a little more cleaning effort around the
stove, but it is fun to watch.
When the copper has cooled to room temperature (this takes about 20
minutes), most of the black oxide will be gone. A light scrubbing with your
hands under running water will remove most of the small bits. Resist the
temptation to remove all of the black spots by hard scrubbing or by flexing
the soft copper. This might damage the delicate red cuprous oxide layer we
need to make to solar cell work.
Cut another sheet of copper about the same size as the first one. Bend both
pieces gently, so they will fit into the plastic bottle or jar without
touching one another. The cuprous oxide coating that was facing up on the
burner is usually the best side to face outwards in the jar, because it has
the smoothest, cleanest surface.
Attach the two alligator clip leads, one to the new copper plate, and one
to the cuprous oxide coated plate. Connect the lead from the clean copper
plate to the positive terminal of the meter. Connect the lead from the
cuprous oxide plate to the negative terminal of the meter.
Now mix a couple tablespoons of salt into some hot tap water. Stir the
saltwater until all the salt is dissolved. Then carefully pour the
saltwater into the jar, being careful not to get the clip leads wet. The
saltwater should not completely cover the plates -- you should leave about
an inch of plate above the water, so you can move the solar cell around
without getting the clip leads wet.
now place in the sun with the magnefied on top.
The solar cell is a battery, even in the dark, and will usually show a few
microamps of current.
That’s it it’s that simple. If you’d a more detailed process and some pics
(ouldn’t put them here) it’s available along with some other DIY
alternative energy projects at www agua-luna com
Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any
questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient
steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written
several how-to DIY guides available at www agua-luna com on the subject. I
also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help
others help the environment.
Dan Martin
Alterative Energy / Sustainable Consultant, Living 100% on Alternative &
Author of How One Simple Yet Incredibly Powerful Resource Is Transforming
The Lives of Regular People From All Over The World... Instantly Elevating
Their Income & Lowering Their Debt, While Saving The Environment by Using
FREE ENERGY... All With Just One Click of A Mouse...For more info Visit:
www AGUA-LUNA com
Stop Global Warming, Receive a FREE Solar Panels Now!!!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Constructing Your Own Solar Panels
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
My Favorites
e-Book Links:
http://www.scribd.com/ //Very Nice Site to download books
http://www.ebookee.com/ //Very Nice Site to download books
http://www.icce.rug.nl/docs/cplusplus/cplusplus.html //C++ Annotations book online
http://www.freebooklinks.com/ebooks/oracle-database-10g-the-complete-reference-2126.html
http://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html///Very Nice for UNIX Shell scripting
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/itts/documentation/docfull.php
Online FM-Radio:Open in Internet explorer
http://www.124radiostation.com/listen-my-radio-hindi_love_songs.html
http://www.onlinehindiradio.com/
http://www.rumela.com/radio/index.php
International Cheap calling sites (Voip sites):
http://smartvoip.com/en/
http://freecall.com/en/index.html
http://www.justvoip.com/en/index.html
http://voipstunt.com/en/index.html
Mp3 Download Links:
http://beemp3.com/
http://www.aimini.net/
http://music.cooltoad.com/music/search.php
Online Tv (Sports & Entertainment):
http://www.ovguide.com/
http://www.justin.tv/directory/sports
http://bhejafry.net/
http://wwitv.com/portal.htm
http://www.techsatish.com/
Movie Links:
http://rajshri.com/
http://www.aiyoo.org/hindimovies/
http://66stage.com/
http://www.ovguide.com/
http://www.veoh.com/
http://dailymotion.alice.it/1
http://www.start2enjoy.com/html/moviesites.html
http://joox.net/
http://www.canderel.ucoz.com/
http://filmhill.com/year/old/
http://www.wizmovies.com/horror.html
http://www.tvokay.com/
http://www.start2enjoy.com/
http://moviesharez.net/
http://videos.nighi.com/
Torrents:
http://torrentbox.com/torrents-browse.php?news
http://axxo.superfundo.org/
http://isohunt.com/torrents.php
http://torrentportal.com/
http://thepiratebay.org/search/The%20Matrix/0/99/0
Rapidshare Links:
http://rapidsharemovies.co.uk/category/A/
http://www.freshwap.net/
Photography:
http://www.canonlensreview.com/
http://www.all-things-photography.com/digital-slr.html
http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/focal-length.html
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html
http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/cameras.html
http://www.adorama.com/
http://www.sanmarinophoto.com/page_view.php?style=HOME&layout=PRODOTTO&cod_id=7126
http://www.canon.co.jp/imaging/picturestyle/style/monochrome.html
http://www.dpreview.com/
http://bangalorephotographyclub.com/forums/ucp.php?mode=register
http://www1.canon.com.au/worldofeos/
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/filters.htm
http://www.my-photography-tips.com/outdoor.html
http://photo.net/
Language:
http://www.google.com/transliterate/indic/Kannada
http://translate.google.com/translate_t?hl=en
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
http://dictionary.reference.com/translate/
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/obnoxious?view=uk%20Online%20Dictionary
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appetite
http://www.italian-verbs.com/italian-verbs/conjugation.php?verbo=fare
http://translate.google.com/translate_t?hl=en
http://www.langtolang.com/
Weather Forecast:
http://www.weather.com/
http://meteo.ansa.it/Regione.asp?Regione=5&Comune=099014%20%20%20%20//Italy%20Weather%20site
Adventure in Italy:
http://www.extremakarting.com/sito/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=11 //Extream Karting
http://www.italiankart.com/piste/piste.asp?livello=3&liv1=cEU&liv2=sIT&liv3=rEMR //Karting Tracks in Italy
http://www.skiinfo.com/Webcam/Abetone-EITABETONE-99-en.jhtml?product.skiinfo.webcams.WEBCAMID=6707 //Skiing in Italy
http://www.palaghiacciofanano.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=7 //Ice Skating
Hotels & Hostels Worldwide:
http://www.hostelworld.com/
http://www.booking.com/
http://www.hrs.com/web3/
http://www.camping.it/english/lazio/romacamping/
Tourist Information:
http://www.virtourist.com/europe/italy/index.html //Online virtual tourist
http://www2.world66.com/europe
http://goeurope.about.com/od/europeantripplanning/European_Vacation_Planning_Planning_your_Trip_to_Europe.htm
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/
http://www.sardi.it/sardinia/trasp1.htm
http://www.discover-sardinia.com/beaches/costa_smeralda.htm
http://www.dolomitisuperski.com/home.athx?ccode=en-US
http://www.askmaps.com/001/ml40.php //Maps
http://maplandia.net/ //Maps
http://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page
http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/world.htm //WORLD ATLAS
http://www.myswissalps.com/swissflexipass.asp?lang=EN //Swiss Flexi Pass Info
http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en? //Swiss Train website
https://www.swisstravelsystem.com/index.php //Swiss Travel Center
http://www.thereareplaces.com/Guidebook/pdest/szpts.htm //Swiss Travel Guide
http://homepages.cwi.nl/~steven/amsterdam.html //Amsterdam Internet Guide
Cheap Flights (Across Europe), Ferry and Train (Italy & India) Travel:
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/dests.php?flash=chk&pos=HEAD //Cheap Flight across Europe
http://easyjet.com/en/book/index.asp //Cheap Flights across Europe
http://www.meridiana.it/en/index.aspx //Flights in Italy
http://www.transavia.com/hv/en-EU/home
http://www.tirrenia.it/IT/Pagine/home.aspx //Ferry
http://trenitalia.it/homepage_en.html //Italian Train
http://www.europeanrail.com/timetables.asp //European Sites
http://internationalevents.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_budget_airlines_in_italy
http://www.makemytrip.com/flights/ //Flights in India
http://indianrail.gov.in/ //Indian Railway
http://www.ixigo.com/search/result/bus/Bengaluru/Chennai/14082009//1 //Bus, Train & Flights in India
http://fly.emirates.com/IBE/SearchAvailability.aspx
https://www.viewtrip.com/Home.aspx//Itinerary Info
PDS ( Permesso Di Soggiorno ) Online status check in Italy:
https://www.portaleimmigrazione.it/ELI2ImmigrazioneWEB/Pagine/StartPage.aspx
http://portale.unitn.it/ateneo/portalpage.do?bp=bp&channelId=-17359&channel2Id=-39717&content_OID=58435&cntTitle=Check%20the%20status%20of%20your%20stay%20permit&cntCategory=Approfondimenti&related_content_OID=58510&page=/jsp/editorial/app.jsp
General Favorites:
http://www.cbec.gov.in/travellers.htm //India - CLEARANCE OF INCOMING PASSENGERS (GREEN AND RED CHANNELS)
http://finance.yahoo.com/currency-converter?amt=1&from=EUR&to=INR&submit=Convert //Currency Converter
http://www.howstuffworks.com/
http://www.tradersedgeindia.com/bse_sensex.htm
http://www.aboutrainwaterharvesting.com/rwh_methods.htm
http://www.rbi.org.in/financialeducation/home.aspx
http://www.dhan.org/ooranis/index.php
http://oorani.tn.nic.in/index.php
Education:
http://vtc.com/ //Online Education
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/relnotes.102/b19074/toc.htm
http://media.datadirect.com/download/docs/jdbc/alljdbc/reference/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm?href=jdbcoracle6.html
http://education.oracle.com/pls/web_prod-plq-dad/db_pages.getpage?page_id=41&p_org_id=1001&lang=US&p_exam_id=1Z0_047
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/itss/docs/oracle/10g/server.101/b10743/data_int.htm
http://download-uk.oracle.com/docs/cd/B14117_01/appdev.101/b10795/adfns_co.htm#ADFNS004
http://download-east.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b25416/ch6.htm#i38576
http://brainbench.com/
http://www.buyplm.com/product-lifecycle-management-books.aspx
http://www.icce.rug.nl/docs/cplusplus/cplusplus.html //C++ Annotations
http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~cs251/OldCourses/1997/topic26/ //DFS algorithm
http://www.java2s.com/Code/C/File/Copyafilehowtousefeof.htm
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~horrocks/Teaching/cs2312/
http://www.personal.kent.edu/~rmuhamma/Algorithms/MyAlgorithms/GraphAlgor/depthSearch.htm //DFS
http://www.cs.usask.ca/content/resources/tutorials/csconcepts/1998_3/DFS/2-4.html //DFS
http://www.mrexcel.com/archive/Formatting/index.html //MS Excel Macro functions
http://www.ozgrid.com/VBA/ //VBA
http://www.selftestsoftware.com/demo/default.aspx //Self test
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/getstarted.htm //Getting Started VBA Macro
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ithelpcentral/solutions/ODBCSetup.php //ODBC Connectivity
http://mrbook.org/tutorials/make/ //Makefile Tutorial
http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Database_Administration/DBA_43.shtml//ORACLE - DBA Tips Corner
http://www.cramsession.com/articles/files/oracle-announces-10g-cert-6302004-1630.asp//Oracle Announces 10g Certification Paths
http://education.oracle.com/pls/web_prod-plq-dad/db_pages.getpage?page_id=141 //Oracle Cerifications - All
http://www.oracle.com/pls/db10g/portal.portal_demo3?selected=1 //Oracle Database Online Documentation 10g Release 1 (10.1)
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v4r0/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.websphere.v4.doc/wasa_content/022425a.html //Oracle Installation Guide
http://infolab.stanford.edu/~ullman/fcdb/oracle/or-nonstandard.html#constraints //Oracle SQL
http://www.orafaq.com/wiki/Scripts //Script and Code Exchange Oracle FAQ
http://www.dreamincode.net/code/snippet1657.htm //Recursive Depth First Search - C - Source Code DreamInCode.net
http://www.gidnetwork.com/b-58.html //Things to Avoid in C-C++ -- feof(), Part 3 - GIDNetwork
http://tomecat.com/jeffy/tttt/datefmt.html //Unix Date formatting for scripting
http://searchwindevelopment.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid8_gci1147660,00.html //VB code downloads
http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/oracle/oracle7/net/doc/NWUS233/apb.htm //Syntax rules for .ora files
Work Related:
http://www-01.ibm.com/cgi-bin/common/ssi/ssialias?infotype=an&subtype=ca&htmlfid=897/ENUS907-107&appname=usn&language=enus
http://www.coe.org/Portals/0/NTForums_Attach/VPM15PTF18.html
http://www.progressive.ro/enovia_vpm.htm
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=886&context=SW860&uid=swg21202560
http://www.product-lifecycle-management.com/plm-related-websites.htm
http://www.product-lifecycle-management.com/
http://www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=6151765877785390745 //My Blog Layout
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Horizontal Filter
Introduction to Ooranis
Scarcity of drinking water is one of the most pressing issues of the developing world. None can question the fact that availability of clean and safe drinking water at the doorsteps of the common man is crucial to life. This is a daunting challenge today.
| Scarcity of drinking water On an average an Indian woman walks 3 - 4 hours daily in search of drinking water. School going children are adversely affected because they are forced to miss out their classes in search of water. On an average an Indian woman loses 45 mandays per year in search of drinking water. |  |
In southern India , every village had more than three water bodies that met the needs for drinking, farming and for cattle and birds. Some of these still work or can work if renovated. It is hardly surprising that these water bodies have been mentioned in every Indian epic. Somehow in the last 200 years the technological and scientific priorities overlooked this simple system and today we are in desperate need of reinventing what was once a way of life and is crucial to the survival of the common man in India.
What is an Oorani?
Oorani is a Tamil name for a dug-out pond that traps rain water run-off and stores it for future use. Oorani s are formed in rural areas where ground water is either inadequate or unfit for use. Square or rectangular, they are dug to depths of two to five meters below the ground level. The size depends on the storage needed to meet the demands of the village.
The earth excavated while forming the oorani is deposited as a bund around its perimeter, leaving a ridge of adequate width to prevent the excavated soil from sliding in and settling at the bottom. Many oorani s have another source of water - from a tank close by. This is in addition to the run-off from its own catchment area. The rain water collected in the oorani is not only the surface run-off but also the lateral sub-surface flow from the catchment area. The stored rainwater is used mainly for drinking and often for livestock. In a village there could exist one or more oorani s, depending on the local needs.
Almost all the drinking water oorani s are hydrologically connected to near-by irrigation tanks or supply channels. Even during acute scarcity villagers fill the oorani by pumping irrigation water from the tanks. Studies show that this is done whenever the rainfall is below normal.
Ooranis are the most preferred source of water
Oorani s will continue to be the primary and preferred source of drinking and domestic water needs in rural areas. Although the professional and government agencies have not accepted oorani s as a safe source with reference to the general health standard, people consider them the best available. Domestic water supply from rehabilitated ooranis outscores the other sources in taste, access, adequacy, availability, and convenience.
Some of the important advantages claimed for oorani water after rehabilitation are
- Good taste and color of food
- Availability of water throughout the year
- Time saved in fetching water
- Trekking long distances is unnecessary
- No payment for water is needed
The maximum benefit from using oorani water goes to women who usually fetch water for domestic needs. Oorani rehabilitation of provides water within the hamlet and people have no need to stand in long queues or walk long distances or expect school children to fetch water at noon and late at night. So it reduces the drudgery of women and children. Fetching water from the oorani is less arduous and DHAN has observed groups of women taking water and then chatting with one another. In other words, the level of social interaction has been observed to increase, thanks to the oorani.
Oorani s are common in Tamil Nadu especially in Ramanathapuram district that has no river to supply drinking water. Deep bore wells do not suffice because the ground water is saline. Traditionally, the village assemblies built the oorani s. The local community also maintained these structures. Most villages had oorani s and many of these still work. The people of Ramanathapuram understood well that they had to conserve water, so they created oorani s that could sustain them. They began doing this more than 2000 years ago and communities have thrived since.
Donating land for ponds or assisting in digging a pond was considered virtuous. Traditionally oorani water has been open to all. People never prevented other villagers from taking the water at times of crisis. Normally each village had two ponds, the one for human use and the other for animals. The number of ponds burgeoned with increasing population. After piped water supply took over, village traditions were hit and traditional maintenance of oorani s, particularly the regular deepening, was affected.
How is an oorani now?
Oorani s are in disrepair today. Their storage capacity has been reduced by siltation and blockage of inlet structures. Since oorani s have been neglected for years, they have been encroached upon as well.
Reclaiming an oorani can revive (and has in fact revived) its storage potential, guarantee a source of safe drinking water at a low investment and with no environmental damage. Unlike other sources such as overhead tanks, desalination plants and hand pumps there is no maintenance and management cost involved. Water distribution from a restored oorani can be managed easily by the local people.
Why revive these structures?
The traditional water storage and harvesting structures have waned in importance because they were neglected by the State. The drinking water systems are centralized but they fail in far-away villages.In some villages, water is tapped from riverbeds while in others, desalinated sea or ground water is provided.
Often inadequate understanding of the traditional system has hastened the rot. Traditional water harvesting structures are culture-specific responses to ecological prerogatives. Not only have they stood the test time but also satisfied certain local needs in an environmentally friendly manner. These systems emphasised ecological conservation in contrast to overextraction common to myopic modern systems. Traditional systems have benefited from the collective human experience and local management since time immemorial and in that lies their strength. These traditional systems are ideally suited for semi-arid tracts of India .
