East Coast Braces for Earl

September 1st, 2010 admin

The last few years have been quite eventful in terms of natural disasters. Looking back just some months ago, Haiti was hit with a gigantic earthquake that totally destroyed their housing, infrastructure, economy and other portions of the country’s livelihood. Shortly after that Chile was also hit with a nasty earthquake, although not as awful as the one in Haiti. Just 5 years ago, the southern coast of Louisiana was absolutely torn up by Hurricane Katrina and is still attempting to recover, with estimates saying that a full recovery could take more than a decade.

Fresh off the heels of this anniversary, there are two hurricanes aiming for the East Coast, one that is already a category 4, which is one shy of the worst conditions possible.

Hurricane Earl is expected to move up the East Coast this Friday, but it is still unknown if it will swing into the New England area or veer northeast towards England. The East Hampton Star out of East Hampton, New York, has a story discussing the possible implications of a hurricane ravaging parts of New England:

“Regional officials are preparing for the worst this week as weather prognosticators attempt to determine what and where the storm named Earl will be when it passes through the region on Friday. A large population from both holiday visitors and the Hampton Classic going on through the weekend could make typical emergency preparations even more complicated, officials said.

Hurricanes often threaten this part of the coast in September, when the summer population is safely back at their desks and away from the shoreline. Earl, a Category 4 hurricane churning off the coast of Puerto Rico as of Tuesday, is likely to be at least tropical strength when it passes through this area on Friday and early Saturday, but it could be as strong as a Category 2 or Category 3 storm, according to Lt. Robert Iberger, Southampton Town’s emergency coordinator.”

Some towns are gathering portable shelters after seeing what has occurred this week in the Caribbean, with roofs being torn off homes and cars being absolutely tossed by 135 mile per hour winds. Make sure that if you are at risk of being effected by this hurricane that you gather up materials today or tomorrow before it’s too late.

Portable Greenhouse Kits

August 26th, 2010 admin

Having a garden is a time-honored tradition all over the world – people just love to grow their own vegetables to put on the dinner table. There are so many reasons for doing so – fresh grown food from your backyard is perfect for light dishes, hearty stews and plenty of other meals. It is also nice knowing precisely how your food was grown and where it came from. There’s only one problem – you can’t have a garden year round. That’s where portable greenhouses come in!productd9897f5fca94581e96143c955131d488

Put simply, a portable greenhouse is the perfect alternative to spending your fall and winter without any fresh vegetables and flowers. Shelters of America carries numerous different models of portable greenhouse kits, ranging in various sizes. The 9′Wx12′Lx7′H GreenThumb Greenhouse has these features included:

- A 10 year warranty on the sturdy aluminum framing and polycarbonate
- Double walled UV-stabilized 4mm polycarbonate panels – excellent heat rentention and hot spot reduction.
- Large width sliding doors for ease of movement
- Four adjustable roof vents for superior venting and air control
- Corrosion fighting gutters with Weathertight poly gasket seams joining panels to frame

One of the best features of a portable greenhouse is the ability to automate and regulate temperature. Obviously, these features aren’t built into the greenhouse, but are incredibly easy to set up for your own personal settings and plant types. For instance, you can purchase solar panel kits that are simple to set up and heat your greenhouse appropriately for whatever plants you choose to grow in the off-season.

You can even use your portable greenhouse as a way to cultivate and experiment with your gardening hobby. It is perfect for casual gardeners who want to cross-breed different flowers for competitions or just showing off to other gardening friends.

DIY Solar Carports & Shelters?

August 18th, 2010 admin

As we’ve discussed in this blog, portable structures of all kinds are becoming very important to the world, particularly in the face of rampant destruction caused by natural disasters. Portable shelters are providing great relief for these areas even as projections put full recovery years and years off. Once housing issues are solved, another major concern facing Haiti and other such countries is the search for energy sources to continue the recovery effort.

A new development in solar technology may be here as soon as 2016. A Norwegian company named EnSol is in the process of developing and patenting a spray on film that could potentially generate energy from the solar rays of the sun. The technology of the film would be juxtaposed with that of expensive, unattractive photovoltaic solar panels, which are currently the most prominently used source of solar energy.

Currently the product is being tested for use on windows, which seem to take to the spray very well. There is some hope that eventually the spray could be used on all buildings and surfaces, which would bode well for energy concerns in countries like Haiti. The linked article above explains how the spray would work in the long run:

“The spray-on film saps up solar energy because it’s made from metal nanoparticles, with the Professor of Nanotechnology at Leicester University, Chris Binns, explaining that ‘some light has to be absorbed in order to generate power but the windows would just have a slight tinting (though a transmission of only 8-10% is common place for windows in the ‘sun belt’ areas of the world).’”

This possible invention also has the potential to change things for theensol rest of the world. There is an energy crisis afoot all over the world; it is just more difficult to deal with in disaster ridden countries. A spray on film would be much less expensive than purchasing hundreds of solar panels for various institutions to become energy solvent, saving money for governments and countries as a whole. Picture via Gizmag

More Colleges Going Green with Solar Carports

August 9th, 2010 admin

The push towards solar technology and green power is far reaching and expanding at a very fast rate across the United States, particularly among colleges. These institutions are looking for any way to cut down on costs for a myriad of reasons and school administrations are starting by cutting down the electric bill by installing all kinds of various solar technologies.

A recent Washington Post blog post discusses the overwhelming number of colleges “pledging” to change their emission rates to show that they care about the environment. For instance, American University says it will be carbon neutral by the end of the next decade and the University of Maryland’s recycling rate has risen past 50 percent. Also, Johns Hopkins University is going to halve its emissions over the next 15 years. One school is going much further than these, according to the column.

Northern California’s Butte College has dubbed itself the only “grid positive” college in the United States by making more clean energy than it uses. The energy produced by the school is enough to power 9,200 homes, which is a remarkable feat. This is accomplished by placing solar panels all over the school’s grounds, on top of buildings, grounds and also carports, which we have discussed in this blog before. The press release from Butte College says that it will take a staggering 15,000 solar panels to complete the project, which is a serious commitment to green power.

Solar carports are being utilized by a plethora of institutions across the country, like colleges and businesses, to generate power for the facility they are placed near. These types of carports and solar panel additions are essential to make this country more energy efficient and less dependent on fossil fuels and other such sources of power.

Disaster Relief in the Form of Portable Shelters?

August 4th, 2010 admin

Over the past few years, the world has seen some terrible natural disasters ravage countries like Haiti and Chile and states like Louisiana. The recovery from Hurricane Katrina is still underway and may not be totally complete for another few years and that is in an area supported by American wealth. Impoverished countries like Haiti (which was just hit with a gigantic earthquake) do not have the resources to recover quickly and/or find semi-permanent shelter areas for people. Where are displaced citizens of these areas supposed to go while recovery is ongoing and there are no shelters available?

One option being researched and developed is the usage of portable storage units being converted into appropriate shelter for those affected by the earthquake in Haiti. As of mid-July, the number of still-homeless Haitians was still at a staggering 1.5 million people, so finding temporary means of shelter is a major concern to the country. In January, a team of researchers and developers began looking into the use of shipping containers as a temporary solution for the homeless. According to the aforementioned article, the idea came out of the housing crisis that was facing the Caribbean and United States in the months leading up to the Haitian earthquake.

Now shipping containers may not necessarily be considered portable storage units or shelters, but those are being used as well. According to this article, portable shelters are being set up in Haiti and are the primary source of housing in the country right now:

“One approach to the crisis is to set up what are called transitional shelters: structures composed of plywood walls and steel frames, durable enough to stand up to inclement weather and strong winds but not meant to provide long-term housing. Each unit, which can house a family of five, can last about three years and costs an average of $1,000 to build.”

This just goes to show you that portable garages, shelters and other such units aren’t only important for storing extra equipment you have in your garage or home; they can also be used in extreme times of crisis.

Doomsday Emergency Shelters are In Demand

July 28th, 2010 admin

At some point in between 250 and 900 A.D., the ancient Mayan civilization predicted that the world would come to an end on December 21, 2012. Their calendar is said to end on that date, which was the only stop in the more than 5000 years listed. Recently a movie starring John Cusack and Amanda Peet came out called 2012 which was about the world ending due to the predicted floods and natural disasters. The movie did really well at the box office, showing that Americans are very interested in the possible end date that the Mayans come up with.

It should be no surprise that a company has begun selling Doomsday shelters for those looking to survive a possible apocalyptic event. A company called Vivos has begun developing a network of underground shelters that certainly have a pool of investors clamoring for their own safe haven in case of a disaster. According to the aforementioned article, Vivos is preparing more than 20 shelters that can house 200 people apiece nearest to major U.S. cities. The shelters will have enough food to feed the occupants for a year and will be luxury accommodations for the utmost comfort. The shelters are also said to be airtight, making any kind of natural disaster, nuclear conflict or other such event totally avoidable.

Another article about Vivos shelters cites that the company can make shelters that can house from 10 to 2,000 people and allows them to “live underground for one to five years with power, food, water and filtered air.” Some critics say that these shelters are pretty unnecessary, particularly when compared to the Cold War era, when bomb shelters were relatively commonplace. Either way you look at it, these structures are rather impressive, even though they’re expensive. The costs can range from $400,000 to upwards of $40 million dollars.

LifeStation Carports Can Provide Natural Disaster Relief

July 22nd, 2010 admin

Lots of people know that green technology and energy sources are a hot button topic right now all across the globe.  There is a lot of talk about carbon footprints, melting icecaps and other concerns, so many people are looking into self sufficient living options in case of potential natural disaster.  This story discusses new technology developed by Envision Solar, a corporation that primarily deals with solar carports, and how these types of carports are beneficial to energy conservation and creation.

The article also cites that Envision Solar as the creator of LifeStation, a prefabricated steel system that can be deployed to areas affected by war or natural disaster.  The beauty of LifeStation is the roofing, made out of photovoltaic panels that absorb the sun’s light and convert it to useful energy for any number of potential applications. One such example of a LifeStation’s purpose is their ability to purify water while providing shelter and electricity in the face of a disaster.  LifeStation also provides over 3,500 square feet of space underneath, which would be enough to hold a small village population.

The question remains: how is Envision Solar going to make enough LifeStation units for the countries that most need them?  The answer, in short, is that Envision doesn’t have to be there at all for installation.  At its base level, Lifestation’s light gauge steel framing system meets all international building codes, so that’s taken care.  But how about all of the solar technology?  Shouldn’t an expert be around to put that stuff together?  Not with Envision’s LifeStation kit, which enables two untrained workers to put together one entire LifeStation from start to finish.  Included in the kit:

  • Photovoltaic modules
  • Water pumping and purification system
  • Inverters
  • Lighting
  • Energy storage batteries

Hopefully, this kind of innovation can help countries in need before natural disaster strikes.  It certainly seems like it should be able to.



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Using Carports to Maximize Space and Save Money

July 13th, 2010 admin

Aside from being incredibly useful for storing your vehicle, carports are also an excellent way to protect your vehicles from harsh weather conditions.  This is a particularly effective means of storing oddly-shaped vehicles, motorcycles and other utilities (i.e. lawnmower), even during the worst, coldest day of winter. For example, if you restore old hot rods and have run out of room to store all of your finished vehicles, you could put a carport in your backyard or right next to your existing garage – that way you could easily move the car back and forth if further work was needed.

Carports are extremely useful for those who reside in small houses or even mobile homes, providing an area to store vehicles without taking up too much space.  People who live in trailer parks don’t usually get too much space, so carports are an exceptional way to store any kind of vehicle or machine that needs to be protected from the weather, damage or other such circumstance.

Putting in carports instead of building onto existing garages, homes or other structures can save thousands of dollars.  Conservative estimates place the cost of building a brand-new two-car garage in the area of $12,000 to $20,000 dollars.  Depending on your personal carport needs, this cost can be reduced in a huge way, with carports costing literally thousands of dollars less than the price you would pay to have a garage put onto your property.

Even if you have plenty of garage space at your home, a carport can be an effective means to store vehicles, so that you can utilize your garage as a workshop during major home renovation or other such project.  You won’t have to fumble around various vehicles and other materials during your work – the cars and vehicles that would normally be in your way will be safely stored away from the harsh elements that can cause severe damage.  If you need more space around your home or need a way to store your vehicle in a cost-effective manner, then a carport might be the right option for you.

Solar Carports

Companies Going Green With Solar Carports

July 9th, 2010 admin

Since we previously wrote about solar carports in this blog, there has been a serious increase in interest in this technology. The abundant amount of free and clean energy generated by these carports has proven to be essential to the development of electric cars and hybrids. Recently, a slew of attention has been heaped onto companies supporting the construction of these energy-generating carports all over the country and the world.

This article talks about the adoption of solar carports at Kyocera Corporation in Japan, which was fitted with solar carports by Envision Solar, a nationwide developer of these types of carports. On the other side of the globe, the New York Institute of Technology just received an award for adding solar carports to their campuses all over New York, staring with Central Islip campus and continuing with Old Westbury campus as well. According to the article, these types of photovoltaic panel-covered carports could be commercially successful on a large-scale, national and international level, particularly as car technology moves towards fully-electric driven vehicles. The success of other companies’ adoption of solar carports has driven a massive increase in these types of projects – one example is seen at Cathay Bank in California, who just signed a large contract with PermaCity Solar to develop carports for its corporate center.

Green technology is a hot topic and solar carports are part of the new school of sustainable energy systems. As electric cars begin to be developed and introduced to the world, there will be a need for massive sustainable energy development – the reliance on coal and other emissive energy sources will need to change to continue the progress of green technology represented by electric powered cars. Solar carports will prove to be an excellent source of this kind of energy.

What Can Portable Solar Carports Do?

July 3rd, 2010 admin

So far, we’ve seen several instances of solar carports being created and used over a large area. They may supply power for a nearby building, thus reducing the building’s dependence on the electric grid, and they may also have the capability to power an electric or hybrid vehicle. Being attached to the ground, however, is one feature that all of these carports share. Since solar carports began to be installed nearly a year ago, is creating a portable model at this point practical?

Practical or not, it has already happened. One such design by Phat Energy debuted recently at Dwell on Design 2010. This device is essentially a metal carport with a photovoltaic panel on top. It’s versatility allows it to be used as a carport to cover one vehicle or to be used as a patio cover. Generating 2.5kW of solar energy would help you replace part of your traditional energy over time.

According to this article, requests for these carports has already started, but production won’t begin until late summer. One will run at about $37,000 a piece and can be customized through lights, outlets, EV chargers, and a column design. If you’re concerned about assembling it, the carport arrives in one piece.

Although the Phatport looks good on the surface, the carport has two glaring issues. First, $37,000 for a carport, and what would it exactly do? Would this be a carport that displaces your reliance on the electric grid, charges your vehicle (remember, EV outlets are an add-on), or does both? How would you set it up to do either one? Additionally, at a price of $37,000, the carport better be extremely strong, but it doesn’t appear to have that strength. Although not specified, the frame might end up being powder-coated steel, which means it won’t last long outdoors.

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