solar energy Archives - Energy Vanguard https://www.energyvanguard.com/tag/solar-energy/ Building science knowledge, HVAC design, & fun Wed, 18 Jan 2023 00:03:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 Introduction to Whole-House Electricity Monitoring https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/introduction-to-whole-house-electricity-monitoring/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/introduction-to-whole-house-electricity-monitoring/#view_comments Tue, 21 Jun 2022 18:18:20 +0000 https://www.energyvanguard.com/?p=7513 Last year I bought the Emporia Vue whole-house electricity monitoring system.*  This past weekend, I finally installed it.  The photo below shows my electrical panel with the monitor installed.  Yes, it looks like a mess at the moment.  The panel…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/introduction-to-whole-house-electricity-monitoring/feed/ 38 Substituting Solar Panels for Insulation in the Energy Code https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/substituting-solar-panels-for-insulation-in-the-energy-code/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/substituting-solar-panels-for-insulation-in-the-energy-code/#view_comments Wed, 09 Nov 2016 05:00:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=substituting-solar-panels-for-insulation-in-the-energy-code Supply and demand are two different things. When you think of an energy code, say the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), you probably think of demand, not supply. Conserving energy, after all, means reducing demand. It’s related to supply only…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/substituting-solar-panels-for-insulation-in-the-energy-code/feed/ 7 The Cost of Solar Energy Keeps Dropping, But… https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-cost-of-solar-energy-keeps-dropping-but/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-cost-of-solar-energy-keeps-dropping-but/#view_comments Thu, 29 Sep 2016 04:00:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-cost-of-solar-energy-keeps-dropping-but Solar energy has sex appeal. If you want to show the world you’re doing something to reduce pollution, you put photovoltaic (PV) panels on your roof to generate clean electricity. Even better, you drive a plug-in hybrid or an all-electric…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-cost-of-solar-energy-keeps-dropping-but/feed/ 12 Is Global Energy Use Getting Better? https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/is-global-energy-use-getting-better/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/is-global-energy-use-getting-better/#view_comments Thu, 14 Jul 2016 04:00:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=is-global-energy-use-getting-better Every day, I get updates on various energy data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Earlier this week I got one showing the graph below, indicating that energy intensity for the whole world is going down. That’s a good…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/is-global-energy-use-getting-better/feed/ 7 My Top 10 Energy Efficiency Articles and Ideas of 2015 https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/my-top-10-energy-efficiency-articles-and-ideas-of-2015/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/my-top-10-energy-efficiency-articles-and-ideas-of-2015/#view_comments Tue, 29 Dec 2015 05:00:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=my-top-10-energy-efficiency-articles-and-ideas-of-2015 The year 2015 is almost finished. I’ve written 69 articles here in the Energy Vanguard Blog. I’ve been to a bunch of conferences and talked to a lot of people. A lot of thoughts about building science, energy efficiency, indoor…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/my-top-10-energy-efficiency-articles-and-ideas-of-2015/feed/ 3 Electricity Demand and the Duck Curve https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/electricity-demand-and-the-duck-curve/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/electricity-demand-and-the-duck-curve/#view_comments Fri, 06 Nov 2015 05:00:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=electricity-demand-and-the-duck-curve You may think there’s no more boring topic than electric utilities. Power plants. Transmission lines. Engineers with flat top haircuts and pocket protectors full of pens in their white short-sleeved shirts. Well, let me say two words that might help…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/electricity-demand-and-the-duck-curve/feed/ 42 Clarifying the Confusing Calculations for Zero Energy Buildings https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/clarifying-the-confusing-calculations-for-zero-energy-buildings/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/clarifying-the-confusing-calculations-for-zero-energy-buildings/#view_comments Fri, 25 Sep 2015 04:00:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=clarifying-the-confusing-calculations-for-zero-energy-buildings A zero energy building is one that produces on-site at least as much energy as it uses. As I’ve written here before, the US Department of Energy has been mulling over the various ways to define and calculate zero energy…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/clarifying-the-confusing-calculations-for-zero-energy-buildings/feed/ 16 The Department of Energy Makes a Choice in the Net Zero Debate https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-department-of-energy-makes-a-choice-in-the-net-zero-debate/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-department-of-energy-makes-a-choice-in-the-net-zero-debate/#view_comments Fri, 18 Sep 2015 04:00:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-department-of-energy-makes-a-choice-in-the-net-zero-debate A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about whether homes that produce as much energy as they use should be called net zero energy or zero net energy homes. Several readers offered up another choice: zero energy homes. I’ve also…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-department-of-energy-makes-a-choice-in-the-net-zero-debate/feed/ 14 Fun in the Sun: The 2015 Solar Cooking Festival https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/fun-in-the-sun-the-2015-solar-cooking-festival/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/fun-in-the-sun-the-2015-solar-cooking-festival/#view_comments Wed, 29 Jul 2015 04:00:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=fun-in-the-sun-the-2015-solar-cooking-festival If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to cook with the sun, the 2015 Solar Cooking Festival in Sacramento was the place to be. This is the second year of the event, hosted by Solar Cookers International. They had quite…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/fun-in-the-sun-the-2015-solar-cooking-festival/feed/ 3 Insolation Is Not a Typo for Insulation https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/insolation-is-not-a-typo-for-insulation/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/insolation-is-not-a-typo-for-insulation/#view_comments Fri, 27 Mar 2015 04:00:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=insolation-is-not-a-typo-for-insulation In 1993 I took a graduate course in solar energy from Professor Yogi Goswami. It was a great course, and one of the projects we had to do was to compile a whole binder full of solar radiation data for…

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