The Ernie Wirtanen Interest Fund
Ernie Wirtanen, who founded and ran Wirtanen Electric, a large electrical wholesale and equipment rental company in Edmonton, Alberta, was an early benefactor. He helped me get the initial grant from the Science Alberta Foundation to work on providing a renewable energy kit for elementary schools back in 1994; writing [...]
Solar Energy and Time
This is a charming example, in 12 frames, of the relative intensity of solar energy received by the Northern hemisphere during our planet's annual tilted spinning trip around the Sun...taken in a single day in the Arctic, by Anda Bereezky, in 2005. The I Ching, one of the Chinese Classics, [...]
Solar Radiation Spectrum
Solar insolation curve (click to enlarge) The concept of solar energy can be abstract. We might know that it is electromagnetic radiation from the Sun, but "WHERE on the electromagnetic spectrum is it?... and "HOW MUCH is there?" Knowing where and how much gives a person the power of their solar [...]
HelioViewer
A new Website which allows you to select your closeness and field of view, and step through Sun images second by second or day by day, capturing screenshots or making movies on the way... https://helioviewer.org
“Let it Shine” – the 6,000-year story of Solar Energy
Have just picked up John Perlin's latest book, Let It Shine: The 6,000-year old story of Solar Energy. This is a 30-years-later updated version of his book, A Golden Thread: 2500 Years of Solar Architecture and Technology - which was THE bible of the history of solar energy usage. Obviously, he [...]