New Questions and Products For Sustainable Living

It's been a few days since my last posting, I apologize to my daily readers. I have been consulting on several projects out of state.

In tomorrow's post,I will be sharing with you questions from a reader and concerned homeowner in Encino, California. Like many other Southern California communities, Encino is experiencing severe water restrictions, regulations, water penalties and surcharges.

I will be answering these questions and providing other information that will be important to all readers in a similar water crisis, as I continue my series of articles titled Water Woes (July 29, 2009).

I have also been asked to review several new products and technologies.

One of the products is a micro inverter for PV solar modules. An inverter is a device that changes DC electric voltage into AC voltage.

DC or direct current is the power most often associated with batteries. However, it is also the power that is produced by the solar module from sunlight.

AC or alternating current is power that is distributed through transmission lines to homes and businesses across the country. AC is the power that runs all of our appliances, lights, and air conditioners.

Inverters are often a very expensive component of a PV solar system. And when designing a system, is one component that can easily be undersized (requiring a future, expensive upgrade) or over-designed (spending extra money unnecessarily).

What is so special about the micro inverter?

For starters, cost. A micro inverter will allow someone interested in solar energy to start slowly and inexpensively.

There are many other interesting benefits to the consumer in regards to micro inverters, and I will be sharing that information in my upcoming article.

I am also going to be writing in more detail about several other products that I have touched upon in earlier articles.

With more and more people interested in rain water harvesting and contaminated water tables, it is time to take a real close look at water purification methods and technologies.

Several months ago I had contacted a northeast manufacturer about visiting their facility.

Like my visit and interview with OptiWind Corporation (July 12, 2009), I feel that by having an opportunity to visit and interview a product manufacturer, I can offer my readers a solid grasp not only of the company's product line or technology, but that I can also offer to my readers, the benefit of a reputable company, not afraid to let the consumer see "behind the curtain".

Brett