Mpowerd launches inflatable solar lantern

New York City-based Mpowerd introduced the Luci solar-powered inflatable lantern earlier this month. The lantern folds like an accordion and shines with the force of 10 LED bulbs. Its integrated solar panels also means you should never have the hassle of switching out batteries.The Luci is designed for maximum portability. It folds into a 3.8-ounce (108-gram) disc that measures about 5-inches across and an inch thick (12.7 x 2.5 cm). With the help of a pop-out blow valve, it inflates into cylindrical lantern form in under a minute.The Luci's base houses a total of 10 LED lights. It has two brightness settings and a flash mode that are accessed by a small push button. The 3.7-volt lithium- polymer battery provides power for between six and 12 hours of light and takes about seven hours to charge. It can be charged with both sunlight and incandescent light.
The Luci's inflatable, waterproof design lends itself to outdoor use for primary or back-up purposes. It can easily fit in a backpack pocket or large jacket pocket. Mpowerd also suggests using it as an emergency back-up light in a car or home and a party/accent light.The Luci isn't the first inflatable lantern we've seen. In fact, the Luminaid inflatable lantern that we covered in 2011 was on display right next to the Luci at the recent Outdoor Retailer Winter Market show. The Luminaid folds into a smaller 5 x 3 x 0.25-inch (12.7 x 7.6 x 0.6 cm), 3-ounce (85 gram) rectangular package. Both designs are very easy to inflate and deflate, and both include handles for carrying and hanging. The Luci has a leak-proof valve, making it easy to fully inflate, and its hard bottom suggests that it should stand more stably than the pillow-like Luminaid.The Luci is available for US$15.95. Mpowerd also plans to launch a buy-one-give-one social campaign, similar to the one Luminaid hosts.
The most abundant elements detected in these accretion discs — oxygen, silicon, magnesium and iron — are also the most abundant elements found in the Earth. The team also found some less common elements circling the distant stars."I didn't even know that scandium was an element until we discovered it in the atmosphere of a white dwarf," Zuckerman said.Based on observation and statistical analysis, Zuckerman thinks that at least one quarter of white dwarfs could be polluted with accreted dust, giving researchers the chance to study the insides of asteroids outside of the solar system.

Announces Successful LED Lighting Upgrade for the City

One of L.A.'s chic ocean front cities, Manhattan Beach draws tensof thousands of visitors annually to its waterfront attractions.Accommodating the masses of people requires a substantial parking garage, which had been poorly lit for years with fluorescent tubes.Noribachi replaced the fluorescents with the popular LOWBAY vapor proof fixture. The new lights use about half of the energy while emitting a much brighter, cleaner light. Inside the parking structure this translates into an increased feeling of security and heightened color perception, making it easier for drivers to locate their vehicles.
"These lights are really bright! I definitely think it looks a lot better than it did before. I've never been in a parking garage this well lit,"says Ed Guernsey, a resident of Manhattan Beach.
Lining Manhattan Beach Boulevard,the City's main thoroughfare, are historic lantern fixtures that also required an LED upgrade. This application demanded a retrofit of the lantern fixture to maintain the original aesthetics. In order to achieve this Noribachi created a custom LED solution designed to easily sit in the existing housing. Noribachi's experience in diffusion allowed engineers to direct the light straight down inside of the existing lens, creating a glowing effect and shielding the individual diodes from view. Noribachi also used LEDs with a warm white color temperature to match the historic ambiance.
"One of Noribachi's earliest strengths has been our non-intrusiveLED retrofits for historic gas lantern lamps.Washing Machines : A special bath for your clothes.Our technology speaks for itself – less than half of the energy consumption with zero aesthetic change in the light itself. It was a great opportunity for us to help Manhattan Beach save money and really bring its lighting on par with its upscale image," says Esther Santos, VP of Sales at Noribachi."The City was able to complete this LED installation through the use of grant funding from the Department of Energy, and this project fits in nicely with the City's goals to be more energy efficient and reduce its carbon footprint 15% below 2005 levels by 2020," notes Sona Kalapura, Environmental Programs Manager for the City of Manhattan Beach.The new LED lights, which the company said is the first of their kind within fleet-based operations, are available in single (1156) and double (1157) contact bulbs, in addition to 194 clearance light bulbs."The overwhelming success of our serviceable UltraLED School Bus Stop Arm Replacement Bulb encouraged us to further develop our LED lighting line to help fleet owners/operators upgrade outdated incandescent lighting to LED technology at both a reasonable price point and greater efficiency," said Brandon Billingsley, CEO of Heavy Duty Bus Parts.

Washing Machines : A special bath for your clothes

A washing machine serves us a useful purpose of washing our clothes. An efficient washing machine is needed by every household s one cannot go to laundry everyday. A laundry wash is certainly a bit more expensive than a home wash. It is very essential to buy an efficient washing machine.Many top brands in the market are delivering their finest range of washing machines. They are Hover, Indesit, Bosch, Beko, Hotpoint, etc. You need to consider a lot of things before buying a sound washing machine. Make sure to look after the following things :
Portability: The portable washing machines are quite small they are very easy to store away when not required and they can even be rolled out on their casters when they need to be used. They also includes a faucet adapter and they can be easily hooked up to your kitchen faucet.Type of Washing Method: You should keep in the mind the type of washing methods in your machine. These are pulsator and agitator methods. If you want a gentle wash for your clothes, you should go for Pulsator washing. This will help your clothes to last longer and this wash is very beneficial for delicate clothes. On the other hand, agitator machines are similar to regular top-loading machines. They wash the clothes in an efficient way by rotating them to and fro.
Single Tub or Twin Tub : In the twin tub washing machines, there is a separate tub for the spin drying process. This helps the spinner to dry at a faster speed and makes the drying very effective.Number of Wash Cycles: The number of wash cycle options are different in different machines. You should chose that machine which offers maximum wash cycle options. You can also look forward for special features in machines like digital controls, with soft touch buttons and LED display.Water consumption : Different washing machines consume different amount of water according to their capacity. So, whenever you are going shopping for these machines, you should chose that machine which consumes lesser water. This will save your money and you can help the environment in a better way.Capacity : Some machines have less capacity and others have more. It varies from small size models to big-size models. If you are a single person and residing on your own, you can buy a portable machine which will offer you sufficient capacity. Bout, if you have a large family of 4-5 members, a big-size machine will be very suitable as you will need a machine which offers high capacity.

Reasons to Use Carbon Fiber Wrap on Your Vehicle

Carbon fiber wrap is the modern way to change the appearance of your vehicle. You can use it on cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles. It adds beauty and personality to your vehicle while providing a tough outer coating that protects your original paint from nicks, scrapes and chips that can occur from driving on the highway. Here are a few more excellent reasons to use carbon fiber vinyl on your vehicle.Using carbon wrap to give your vehicle a new look is less expensive than a custom paint job. When done correctly, it looks just as professional as paint but the original color of the vehicle stays in tack. It's difficult to tell the difference between vinyl wrap and paint because the finished look is so similar. Carbon fiber vinyl is also much cheaper than real carbon fiber and it's much easier to work with, too
If you're handy with tools, installing fiber vinyl is easy to do and you won't need any special equipment. If you're involved in an accident and a section of the vehicle is damaged, you can cut out that portion of the wrap and repair the area much easier and cheaper than it would be to repair paint. The wrap is so easy to work with that matching up the vinyl is no problem at all.Removing the wrap is also easy. If you decide to restore the vehicle back to its original state, you can do so simply by peeling off the vinyl. Installation or removal of the vinyl won't damage the surface underneath, provided proper technique is used.Using wraps for self-expression is a great way to show off your personality. There are so many different graphics and designs available that being unique is easy. You can even layer the sheets of carbon fiber wrap by placing different colors on top of one another, until you create a one-of-a-kind look.
Being unique is easy when you use carbon fiber vinyl because there are a wide variety of options available. You can choose plain colors, specialty colors such as Pearl and Matt Black or most any type of design you can imagine. Finding a color or pattern that suits you perfectly, should be easy to do.One of the oldest reasons to use carbon fiber wrap is to advertise. Big companies have been doing this for years but anyone can take advantage of the benefits it has to offer. Do you own a small business? Advertising your business every time you ride through town, to the grocery store or to the gym can draw in a lot of customers.One of the great things about using carbon fiber to advertise is that you can make changes when needed. If your phone number or company's address changes, you can easily make this correction without a huge expense. Using carbon fiber wrap on your vehicle gives you more flexibility to express yourself and show off your unique personality.

Why Switching to Online Fax can Reduce your Carbon Footprint

Pressures from environmental groups and the media have highlighted the need for businesses to be more environmentally friendly and some companies have taken profound steps to implement this. For instance some companies have employed 'environmental teams' to improve their business processes and some have set emissions targets as one of their important annual goals.However not all businesses have to go to such lengths, especially smaller businesses, as there are smaller and easier steps that can be made to help reduce a business's carbon footprint. For example turning electrical equipment off that isn't being used and recycling where possible are a couple of smaller things. But something that is more monumental is switching from using a traditional fax service to an internet fax service.There are estimated to be over 23,000,000 business fax machines in the U.S. alone, some of these sit idle in an office. Fax machines require to be left on standby to receive incoming faxes, however when left on standby they continue to clock up huge energy costs for a business.
Unlike traditional fax machines which require an isolated phone line, internet faxes are sent and received online and can be read from computer monitors and other mobile devices. So when moving to Internet fax, businesses can unify their communications into a single point of access, as fax and email can both be sent and received from a single computer. This eliminates the need to have both a fax machine and computer powered up in one instance, which is not only more efficient, but is more cost effective and less damaging for the environment. Internet fax is almost paperless as users only have to print the faxes that they need a hard copy of, whilst the average U.S business fax machine can consume up to 5,000 sheets of paper per year, which equates to 13.8 million trees being cut down each year to print faxes.
With such staggering figures environmental organizations are placing more pressure on businesses to reduce their carbon footprint and updating outdated communication processes such as manual fax machines is a great place to start.A single business fax machine is routinely left on standby for a period of 24 hours, which means it omits an average of 200 kg of CO2 every day, which equates to 73 tonnes of CO2 emitted by each fax machine annually.Through the process of carbon sequestration a healthy tree absorbs around 13.5 kg of CO2 a year, but 13.8 million are being cut down each year to source the paper for fax machines. This shows that fax machines are part of a vicious cycle that is hurting the environment.

What Is Resin Transfer Moulding?

Resin Transfer Moulding, more often known as RTM, is a process which uses low pressure closed moulding to create a dimensionally accurate, high quality surface finish. It is a form of composite moulding, which uses liquid thermoset polymers which are reinforced with numerous forms of fibres; usually fibreglass is used, although there are a wide variety of options for more robust industrial applications; often a combination of several reinforcements is used. Polymers are often Polyester, Phenolic, Epoxy, Methyl Methacrylate or Vinyl Ester.The selection of different polymers and reinforcements; called the matrix selection when numerous choices are made in a combination; is what dictates the cost of the moulding materials, as well as mechanical and finished surface performance. Other minerals are often added to reduce cost and increase fire retardancy among other things.
Fibres that constitute the reinforcements are introduced to the mould in dry form in either random continuous strand mat, binder bound chopped mat or woven cloth format. Often the fibre is preformed to the specific shape of the mould to ensure a good fit and smooth finish, alternatively it can be hand tailored to the shape of the mould during the moulding process.Action delayed on solar farms.The surface of the mould is often gel coated by spraying the mould surface before the fibre is situated. Upon installing the fibre into the mould, a premixed resin and catalyst are injected into the aforementioned closed mould cavity, which encases the fibres.The advantages of Resin Transfer Moulding are mainly the comparatively low pressure that is required in production; it almost never exceeds 100 psi of pressure; and the high quality finished product. Other advantages include the cleaner and healthier process which improves conditions for the machine's operators; the option of extremely thin products which in some cases can be less than 0.1 mm thick; and the low volatility of emissions.
Although RTM shares some common aspects with Compression Moulding, it differs in that in transfer moulding, the resin is inserted into the mould which contains the fibres, layered or otherwise, whereas in compression moulding, the components for moulding are already in the mould when heat and pressure are applied. The lack of pressure applied in Resin Transfer Moulding means that it is often considerably cheaper than its compression counterpart.In summary, in the current economic down turn, it is important to choose a method of moulding that is cost effective and extremely efficient when you are intending to mould plastics, as it can save your company a great deal of money and ensure a high quality finish every time.

Action delayed on solar farms

A zoning ordinance dealing with solar farms and solar collectors prompted lengthy discussion during Monday night's Vance County board of commissioner's meeting.Carolina Solar Energy made the initial request to amend the zoning ordinance, adding language dealing with solar collectors and solar farms.Jordan McMillen, the county planning director, presented the ordinance that distinguished between large-scale solar farms and smaller scale, solar collector projects for homeowners and commercial businesses.A motion passed for solar collectors to be permitted in all zoning districts. However, no action was taken on the zoning ordinance related to solar farms in favor of gaining more research."The larger scale projects are the ones that have greater impact," McMillen said. "The proposed language limits those to just very particular zoning districts."
Because of the amount of space needed, and potential impacts with large-scale projects, the ordinance limits solar-farm areas to agricultural-residential, light industrial, industrial mining, employment and institutional, and office institutional zoning districts.Commissioner Gordon Wilder, representing District 3, spoke in opposition of including agriculture-residential as a zoning district permissible for solar farms."I feel that we voted on zoning to maintain the rural character of our community," Wilder said. "I have no problem with solar farms being in light industrial areas."I think they would fit right in, in places like that, but I would be apposed, adamantly opposed, to including these in agriculture-residential areas."
Dan Brummitt, with the planning and environmental committee, addressed concerns with removal costs."At some point they'll become obsolete," Brummitt said. "At that point there may be some removal cost and we want to try to find a proper way to ensure that removal is taken care of with these, and for that reason we need to do a little more research."Speaking in support of the zoning ordinance for solar farms was Benny Finch, former director of the Henderson-Vance County Economic Development Commission.Finch has been working for a company in Durham for the past 14 months, assigning sites for solar farms from Vance County to eastern North Carolina."I'm speaking in favor of regulations being proposed by the planning board, and encouraging support of those," Finch said. "Solar farms have helped keep the environment clean, reducing dependence on coal and oxygen."Solar farms are supported by state and federal government. They're cost effective, and don't need any county services."

Alta Develops Solar Charger for Soldiers, Cuts About 25 lb From Pack Weight

"We have come to rely on mobile machines and devices that always need a source of power whether it be the grid, batteries, or fuel," said Chris Norris, president and CEO of Alta Devices. "But in the next decade, we will come to expect mobile power that is transparently available at all times."The enterprising solar startup Alta, with some help from the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), just launched a reference design that allows soldiers to drastically slash their pack weight.  Whether it's night vision goggles or a laptop computer, soldiers on average carry around 35-lb of batteries, or roughly a third of their 100-lb pack weight.
The new charger design cuts the battery load by 70 percent, slashing around 25-lb from the pack.Alta is also working the ARL and other U.S. Military partners to add the company's proprietary flexible, thin-film solar panels to unmanned aerial vehicles, allowing them to stay aloft for months, or even years.Comments Mr. Norris, "There are nearly limitless opportunities for always-available mobile power.  We are initially targeting applications where the need is well understood and the opportunity is substantial. Over time, we see huge markets being enabled by this kind of mobile power."Alta's homepage states that the company is aggressively targeting the consumer and automotive markets with civilian devices.  The company's claims its panels carry "world-record cell (28.8%) and module (24.1%) efficiencies".  Founded by two top California-area professors in 2008, the company is already turning heads in the defense sphere, but hopes to translate that into commercial success in the civilian market in years to come.
Pain medication This is not a gadget, but it's a must-have for traveling. Headaches tend to strike at the least convenient time possible, and purchasing a Tylenol or Advil from the store in a hotel lobby is often quite expensive. You should have a travel container or your pain medication of choice available.Coffee This is also not technical, but vitally important for coffee drinkers. In case there isn't a Starbucks available, and the mediocre coffee from the miniature pot on the bathroom counter in the hotel isn't cutting it, you should carry around a stash of Starbucks Via packets. I have an assortment in my laptop bag, including coffee, iced coffee, and the Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher drink.Business cards The concept is a little "yesterday", but people do still exchange business cards. Sure, it seems simpler and more efficient to just add contact info to your smartphone or tablet since you're going to have to do that anyway with the information from the business card, but you've got the cards so you may as well use them.

Stephen Miner Named CEO of Solar Energy Trade Shows

The Board of Managers of Solar Energy Trade Shows, LLC (SETS) today announced the appointment of Stephen Miner as president and chief executive officer. In his new role, Miner will manage and grow the high-impact solar energy events produced by SETS -- Solar Power International and PV America. SETS is a joint venture created by the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) to produce trade shows to advance the solar energy industry.For the past 12 years, Miner has developed and managed trade shows, conferences and education programs in the energy and environment sectors. He comes to SETS from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) where he was senior vice president of conference, membership and business development. In this position he managed sales and marketing for the $20+ million annual WINDPOWER Conference and Exhibition, as well as AWEA's workshops and $10+ million membership services programs.
During his tenure, Miner helped raise the profile of the show to attract 1,400 exhibitors and 24,000 attendees earning recognition as one of the top 50 trade shows held annually in the United States.The Best Way To Select The Right Lamp Shades.Prior to joining AWEA in 2002, he was manager of education at the Environmental Industry Association, where he developed and executed multiple master educational programs.Miner has an extensive background in higher education having spent more than 15 years with Prince George's Community College and the University of Michigan-Flint in a variety of capacities including director of student services operations, program director for the college activities office, alumni director and program coordinator.Miner will lead day-to-day management and strategic planning for SETS and evaluate new innovative products and techniques to further respond to the needs of the growing solar industry. He will also oversee strategic marketing, communications and brand strategy for the organization's trade shows, lead development of educational content and develop partnerships and relationships with non-profits and other key organizations that add value and strength to SETS events."Solar is the fastest-growing energy industry in America, repeatedly reaching new milestones in commercial and residential installations and in job creation,"Miner said. "SETS will continue to play a pivotal role in the industry's dynamic growth by delivering leading-edge events that will drive growth, and provide networking and educational activities that maximize opportunities for every link in the solar supply chain."