Efficiency BEFORE Renewable additions

OK I can see that many of you have a LOT of questions regarding this particular topic so let us begin by clarifying just exactly what is a solar powered air conditioner. Solar Air Conditioners in a nutshell are today’s newest technology version of the swamp cooler only far more advanced. Long ago people in the southern tier states of the US learned that by passing water across a fan blown radiator they could take advantage of what we know to be “Evaporative Cooling”, which is the same principle that was used in earlier processes of refrigeration. When water evaporates from any surface that surface will in effect become much cooler than the surrounding ambient air temperature.

Now that we understand the basic principle of evaporative cooling we can move forward to the an in depth explanation of how and why a solar powered air conditioning unit works and its cost benefits. These systems use approximately 4 gallons of water per hour depending upon just how hot the ambient air temperatures are because the more evaporation that takes place the cooler these systems operate. Considering that ambient temperatures or more to the point the outside temperatures do literally all of the work of cooling the air in the conditioning unit and the water used also humidifies the air quality the end result is what we call ‘Comfort Air”.

Benefits to this system are numerous and will have a deep impact upon air conditioning systems and how we cool our homes and offices for decades to come. The first benefit I would like to mention is the fact that these systems require absolutely NO chemical refrigerants as it is the Evaporative Cooling that does nearly all the work of cooling the air in your home or place of business. Secondly, because they utilize water as a thermal medium the air that is pumped through your air ducts is at the perfect comfort level with regards to humidity especially in arrid climates. The most impressive benefit to these systems is the because all of the cooling work is being done by evaporation the over all energy required by the entire system is 90% LESS than that of a conventional air conditioning system! Yes you read that correctly! I said 90 percent LESS! An average conventional air conditioner for your home requires approximately 6000 watts of power to function per hour while these systems will operate at full capacity on a mere 600 watts.

Just to put all of that into perspective with an example you can probably relate too let us consider the standard hand held blow dryer that most women use on their hair. These will use up to 1800 watts if you have one of the newer models with the multiple fan settings, and the C60 solar powered air conditioner that Global Team Direct sells, installs and services will operate on 1/3 of that energy. So up until this point I have been informing you on all the principles of the evaporative cooling and power requirements of this system and you are probably wondering, “OK, well what about the whole SOLAR part of this system”? Given that our power requirement to operate these systems is so low we can very easily employ 4 – 200 watt solar modules which will provide all the power this entire system will ever need! Now I will come full circle and explain the final part of this fantastic system and why it is important to use the solar option with it. All air conditioners produce exhaust air and although the air coming out of a conventional system is always hot, the air which is exhausted from this new technology is very cool. Solar panels which are generating the power which feeds these systems will generate far more power at cooler temperatures below 150F but those of us who actually work with solar panel systems already know that if left to their own in the suns heat of the day they can get much hotter than this 150F range thus reducing their power output ability by as much as 15%. So here is what we do. Utilizing duct work from the exhaust port of the air conditioning unit we direct this cool exhaust air to a plenum that is fitted across the entire surface area of the back side of the solar panel array thus keeping the panels which are generating the operational power to the air conditioner much cooler in the suns heat which provides you with an additional 20% of energy generation capacity from your solar array.

So lets recap! Zero chemical refrigerants, the ability to be powered 100% by solar, cool comfortable air in your home or office, and the hotter the temperatures get the more efficient these systems function saving you hundreds if not thousands of dollars per year on air conditioning costs! Any questions?

Atmospheric Water Generators

2009-02-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

New technology or an old idea greatly improved upon? That is what so many people are wanting to know when it comes to the buzz surrounding the Atmospheric Water Generator. Well here are the facts!
Atmospheric Water Generators or AWG's do in fact serve 3 purposes:
1. They do create very good drinking water out of the moisture in the air.
2. They do function extremely well as a dehumidifier.
3. They also function as a great air filtration system.

As is true with all technologies that are experiencing the growing pains of Research & Developmental stages of their technology this system has had it bumps and bruises. However, most of those have been caused by the people who own the technology as they haven't exactly brought it out to the general public in a manner consistent with the GE's or Whirlpools of the world when it comes to an appliance for the Home or Office. Much ado about nothing has been made by those trying to jockey themselves into position to corner the market and sales of this $800 Billion dollar industry worldwide which is quality drinking water.

Recent news broadcasts that are exposing the horrors of many many cities across the US who's drinking water sources which in fact do include many of the popular brand labels of the bottled water industry being contaminated by bacteria, fecal matter and most recently pharmaceutical drug traces are bringing about an awakening. Nay Sayers who honestly believe that this is just urban legend are among those who find this just too hard to believe. The fact of the matter is that these stories are in fact true and while they may think that this doesn't effect them because of their geographical location being some far away pristine environment in the country they themselves are just as likely to get water testing results that would make them ill just reading them.

Fertilizers & pesticides after all do have to end up somewhere and considering that more often times than not they follow the natural water systems which start out as ground water. Inevitably they end up mixed with well water, rivers and streams and eventually our lakes which is where we come to the source of all those fancy labeled Bottled Waters. That's Right! The majority of the bottled water that you thought were so clean and pure are in fact nothing more than processed tap water and I haven't even told you the worst part yet.

In a national study of city tap water sources as was first reported by ABC News and then followed up by CNN this study reported an alarming rate of pharmaceutical drug traces in cities such as Atlanta, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and of course New York City. Now while not all of the cities that conducted this testing actually documented any detailed analysis of the drugs that were found it was reported that large numbers of individual drug traces were found in all of the cities previously mentioned.

Now I am sure all of you reading this are wondering, how do pharmaceutical drugs get into our cities drinking water? Well this is where this blog takes a very twisted turn but I will try to keep it clean for you. The human body when it consumes any kind of vitamin, mineral or drug does not have the ability to absorb 100% of them and the rest is passed through our bodies and into our waste water systems where it is then processed at a water treatment facility before being put back into circulation in city water systems. That is pretty bad and even more so when you consider that all those under the counter filtration systems you were relying on do not have filters sensitive enough to pick out those types of impurities.

NOW consider the sane choice of an atmospheric water generator! My company sells what I personally believe to be the absolute best AWG currently on the market for a number of reasons which I will explain for you. First of all, the water that is processed comes right out of the air you breath and if you are changing your hvac systems air filters regularly this is already quite clean. Then this water is passed through a 7 step filtration process which includes Nano UV(2 stages of it in fact) and it has already been established that no bacteria can survive this form of UV light. Furthermore, you have the option of replacing one of 3 carbon filters with a silver impregnated carbon filter which studies have shown offers numerous health benefits in the form of colloidal silver which literally can and does kill any and all cancerous and non cancerous forms of bacteria and viruses. Quite a difference from that tap water in the kitchen right about now isn't it?

Although there are a number of companies out there and more to come as this technology spreads like the wildfire it truly is, the same rules of the road apply! BUYER BEWARE! Accept NO imitations and you will most certainly want to take a very close look at some of those who have decided that this particular product belongs in a Multi-Level Marketing scheme where the same systems cost is double of what you could expect to pay anywhere else just buying it as if you were at a local retailer. If you do decide, and I cannot imagine why you wouldn't, to take a look at our web site please remember that in order to gain full access to the site you will need to either be a member or register as a new member in order to get the most out of all the information we have put in there for your reading and living pleasure. Now I am going to go get me some REAL clean ice cold water! Enjoy!

Power Factor Conditioning

2009-02-13T10:33:00.000-08:00

Renewable energy solutions and technologies are suddenly popping up everywhere, and with all of the government money being poured into Federal and State incentive programs it is very easy to get caught up in the possibilities that these systems can bring to reality in your home or business. I would like to bring to light a consideration that very few take the time to think about before diving head long into making the purchase of a solar, wind or geothermal system.

How efficiently is your home or business already using the power you are paying for at present before adding any energy generation system into the mix? How is energy usage efficiency measured? It is measured in what is more commonly known as Power Factor Rating.

The average American home or business has a power factor of .77 which would be the same as saying an efficiency rating of 77%. Now if your car was operating at this rate of efficiency you would probably be taking it into your local mechanic for a tuneup. Another fact relating to power factor that your local electrical utility has not shared with you is the fact that you actually get charged an additional fee by many utility companies for having a poor power factor rating.

So how can we prevent this in preparation for that new solar panel, wind turbine generator system you want to have installed this spring? The answer is very simple, very affordable, and extremely effective. Companies such as Global Team Direct sell devices know as Power Factor Conditioners which when installed will begin saving you money on your electric bills immediately. These devices are capacitor based which when properly installed by your electrician into the electric panel of your home or business will increase your electrical distributions power factor to as close to 1.0 or 100% efficiency as possible. In most cases you will see the power factor come up to between .90 - .98 and by so doing you will literally be using less electricity on every appliance in the home than you previously were prior to its installation.

Why is that you might ask? Most appliances such as your freezers, refrigerators, washers & dryers and even your HVAC systems operate on AC motors which are considered to be an inductive load which when are turned on inherently cause a voltage drop due to the amount of power required to bring the motor up to speed. This voltage drop also induces the current or amps being used to increase dramatically to compensate for the voltage loss so that the device still receives the power it needs to operate. During this momentary period of the motor starting however your electric meter is spinning much faster than it normally would given a proper power factor rating being present.

The power factor conditioners ability to keep your power factor at or near 100% prevents these voltage drops therefore there is no sudden increase in amperage to get your appliances motor up to speed. The required power is simply there and it is the conditioner which experiences the voltage drop but as a capacitor stores energy it has it readily available to send to the appliance that requires it at that instance and therefore will not make your meter spin any faster when providing this voltage to the appliance. It should also be pointed out that without proper power factor the motors in your appliances during start up experience adverse heating and cooling which is very bad for their life expectancy and can significantly shorten their life cycle in your home.

So how much can one of these devices save you in cost savings on your electric bill? Typically we see savings of up to 25% on average in a home, but this will entirely depend on how many appliances you run, how big your HVAC systems are as in some instances we have noted savings up to as much as 38%. It may not seem like a huge savings each month but given that electric costs are rising sharply and the fact that these devices come with a 5 year manufacturers warranty and also have a 20 life expectancy, they are well worth their costs in energy savings and extended life cycles of the appliances in your home.