by Ethan Johnson
July 12, 2008

"Power Plus" is an open-ended series of articles, intended to cover matters pertaining to energy production, consumption, and conservation. Admittedly, this can come off as a depressing or maddening topic, especially when I harp on conservation and consumption. Sadly, I can't promise to stop beating those topics into the ground, but now is a good time to talk a bit about advancements in the power "space" (I said that to get a rise out of the office types) and how we all might benefit from them.

I will start by beating the conservation drum once more. While the following advancements are impressive and exciting, nothing beats the "off" switch for big savings.

Solar: The first advancement comes from Suntech Power (PDF link). Check out the photo at right. See anything unusual?

You don't?

Well, here's what you're not seeing: Every pane of tinted glass is a solar cell.

How's that for circumventing the zoning rules for solar cells and whatnot? I'd be interested to see how and if this is developed for residential applications. Our home doesn't have many windows, so I don't think we could pull this stunt and expect to pull in much solar energy. But for stark office buildings like this one (and our immediate area has several), this could be ingenious.

On the down side, solar panels don't generate much electricity relative to required surface area. Some of the examples in the linked PDF rate the sample systems around say, 5.6 kW. That might be hot stuff for a house, but for an office building, burp! Still, offsetting electricity costs with integrated solar may be a fantastic idea. I'm going to assume that it's expensive now, and costs will drop as the technology improves. Either way, that was not what I was expecting to find while searching for information about solar panels.

"Green" Power: This is a follow-up to an article I wrote in 2006 about "green" energy. At the time, I said that only one power company got an "excellent" rating from the Texas Power Score Card. I'm happy to report that TWO companies now share that rating. 22 companies and/or plans are reviewed, and the "new renewable rating" breakdown now reads:

• 2 Excellent
• 3 Poor
• 17 Unacceptable

This means that 2 companies are replacing outdated facilities with "green" alternatives, and/or using more "green" power in their facilities. The "overall environmental impact" rating is as follows:

• 3 Excellent
• 0 Very Good
• 2 Good
• 4 Fair
• 13 Poor
• 0 Unacceptable

In 2006, Green Mountain Energy was the sole recipient of the "excellent" rating. Now they have fallen to "fair" at best, as I suspected earlier. TXU (my electric company) and Reliant Energy both got the top honors. To be fair, this is based on the fact that both offer the potential to buy 100% wind power, however that seems to be only available to customers close to the wind farm. Our plan has 10% wind as part of the overall blend. Again, that's 10% less coal, if only on paper. I'll have more to say about wind power in a future Power Plus installment.

CFL Bulbs: As I have been running tests of our power consumption lately, one of the biggest energy hogs (next to our air conditioner) is the good old incandescent light bulb. Our bathroom light fixture holds 6 40W bulbs, which is well and good, but that's 240W just for one light fixture. The average light bulb in our home (as of July 10) was 60W. We have five ceiling fans, three of which contain 4 60W light bulbs EACH. The other two hold 2 60W bulbs. All told, and this is just our ceiling fans, they contain(ed) 18 * 60W = 1080W. Holy cow! That's a kilowatt just in our overhead fans. Add in the master bath fixture (240W), the guest bath (4 * 40W = 160W), the laundry room (60W), the dining area (60W + 2 11W CFL bulbs, + a 40W desk bulb), the family room (11W CFL bulb + 60W lamp bulb), not to mention our craft room, the guest bedroom, the formal dining area, the hallway, the garage, the attic, our bedroom, the kitchen, the front and back porch... AUUUUGH! That's a lotta wattage! And we live modestly!

Needless to say, the crackdown is ON. I went to Home Depot last night and picked up 2 cartons (4 each) of "60W" CFL bulbs. This means 14W in reality. Plus I bought 4 bulbs to replace the guest bathroom fixture. That's 160W (4 * 40W) immediately down to 36W (4 * 9W). That's less wattage for all 4 bulbs than ONE standard bulb! I replaced 2 of the ceiling fans (the ones that held 2 bulbs each), so that's 120W each down to 28W. That's insane.

(Note: We don't actually turn every light on every day, all day. But sheesh, those watts add up!)

Why is this exciting, besides the obvious? Well, CFL bulbs are better and cheaper than ever. Especially this brand that Home Depot is selling (N:Vision). Target sells GE, which are good too but more expensive. Ideally, buy in bulk at the outset when going on a bulb-replacement rampage. The bathroom fixture bulbs cost $20 USD for 4, whereas Target only sold them individually for $9 each ($36). A 4-pack of "60W" bulbs was on sale for $4.88 at Home Depot. I bought 2. I probably need 1 more 4-pack, but keep in mind that CFL bulbs *should* last for years. The GE "Reveal" bulbs I was using in the bathroom burned out after about 6 months. Since both of our bathrooms are in the interior of our house and do not benefit from ambient outdoor light, bulbs are a necessity. That being the case, we're being smarter about what bulbs we use.

I'm impressed with how quickly the bulbs light up and reach full intensity. IKEA bulbs are the pits, as they take several minutes to reach full strength, while giving the impression that your eyesight is failing. Not anymore! I'd like to replace the few IKEA bulbs we have, but it's a tough choice to make, as the down side of CFL bulbs is that they contain mercury and must be disposed of using alternative means (as opposed to tossing them in the trash). I think the new and improved CFL bulbs that are coming in now will offset the few IKEA bulbs until they need to be replaced. And perhaps CFL bulb technology will have improved by then anyway.

Our billing cycle for July has just begun, so the next bill should be edifying. Historically, July is a bad month for electric bills, but if by upgrading our standard bulbs in the fixtures we use most often we can dramatically reduce our wattage requirements, that savings should be evident. I will report back next month with the results pro or con.

I'll have more good green news to pass along at another time, but it's good to know that improvements and innovations are already out there, today. If you haven't checked out your green power options lately, now's a great time to get current (har har). <EM>

(More articles like this one may be found here.)