News by Dahl Winters - solar education, products, thoughts, and blog updates from the web's most comprehensive green jobs aggregator, sourcing green jobs from over 20 different websites. http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=f536fb55e691ab6be677c6d5e1eaa256 Mon, 28 May 2012 05:19:36 +0000 http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/ http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/22/review-of-sunforce-panels-at-compusa/ This morning as I was online at our local news site, I happened to see an ad for some solar equipment I had seen just two days ago.  I was at CompUSA at our local mall to look at wireless cards when something near the front of the store caught my eye. There was the [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=7746 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:00:11 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/09/sun-electronics-best-prices-on-solar/ In striving to bring you the lowest possible prices on solar panels and other equipment, I can’t help but notice Sun Electronics.  They have some incredibly low prices on solar panels, as low as $1.20/watt for single panels, and as low as $0.97 for the panels if included in a PV system.   I am [...] http://realizen.com/sr/?p=56 Fri, 10 Dec 2010 02:36:07 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/09/the-solar-flexrack/ This is an innovative new product designed to drastically cut the installation time for a new solar power system.  Also, instead of having a team of people, only 2-3 people are needed.  The Solar FlexRack works by coming pre-assembled, so that only a minimum of 2 people are needed to unfold and install it.  It’s [...] http://realizen.com/sr/?p=48 Fri, 10 Dec 2010 02:15:14 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/09/plug-and-play-solar/ Every now and then I see a good idea and it’s great to be able to tell people about it.  For example, take Andalay Solar, which is becoming Westinghouse Solar.  They sell what’s essentially a plug-and-play solar power system – the panels come with built-in Enphase microinverters, meaning that 12/24/48V DC is being converted directly [...] http://realizen.com/sr/?p=31 Thu, 09 Dec 2010 21:55:05 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2011/07/03/the-need-for-speed-when-it-comes-to-solar/ This afternoon I decided to do a quick calculation as to how long it might take for our present crop of solar installers to make an impact on residential energy use in NC.  What I found was, well, you’ll see… According to the US Census, there were 4,258,625 homes in NC in 2009: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/37000.html. To [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=193172 Sun, 03 Jul 2011 21:02:07 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2011/06/13/new-job/ It’s been a while since my last blog entry, but that’s been mainly because I’ve been busy doing the things that I could be blogging about.  It’s been hard to blog while studying in my Solar Technology-turned-PV System Design class, and just as it was ending I landed myself a new job! I now work [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=96473 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 01:35:23 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2011/01/18/basement-renovation-progress/ I finally got around to leveling the kitchen floor.  I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to do it, other than wanting to make sure I did it right.  The floor is sloped down a bit into the bathroom area, and the place where the kitchen sink cabinet would go is about an [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=30869 Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:00:00 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2011/01/12/working-on-my-new-ipad/ My iPad first entered my life on January 9, 2010, from the Apple Store at Crabtree Valley Mall. It was a surprise getting it, since I had always thought it would be neat to have one, but I hadn’t had any serious plans to get one. That all changed when we visited a friend of [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=25519 Wed, 12 Jan 2011 22:12:27 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2011/01/03/first-blog-post-of-the-new-year/ Hope you had a great holiday! It’s been a long time since the last of my blog posts because I was getting ready for the winter holidays. I figured I could take a long break since this website is pretty much automatic now, adding new posts from RSS feeds every 30 minutes or so. Thus, [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=16064 Mon, 03 Jan 2011 23:45:40 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/18/my-home-office/ I have my office on the east side of what used to be an old carport that was enclosed to make a storage room. We bought the house that way, and decided to turn the room into an actual sunroom that would be my office (though I originally insisted that it should be a family [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=5821 Sun, 19 Dec 2010 02:44:36 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/18/installation-of-hiviz-circuits/ In earlier blog entries, I described how I will be learning to install, maintain, repair, and design solar power systems. It just occurred to me that I’m doing exactly that with our little HiViz circuits. Since HiViz is my longest-held job (since 2004 and counting), there must be something about working with the circuits that [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=5814 Sun, 19 Dec 2010 02:18:01 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/12/working-a-green-job/ Green jobs are, in my opinion, the best kinds of jobs.  They are good for the environment, usually have some element of social responsibility, and pay a living wage.  There is nothing excessive about a socially responsible green job; you get enough to live by, you give enough back for others to be able to [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=90 Mon, 13 Dec 2010 04:16:31 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/12/my-career-working-at-home/ I have a pretty good career as it is.  I am a co-manager of HiViz.com, an online business that offers kits and assembles trigger circuits for high-speed photography.  I perform the majority of the kit packaging, assembly, testing, and order packaging, as well as the web design.  My husband does the customer support, shipping, and [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=87 Mon, 13 Dec 2010 01:53:02 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/20/how-my-life-is-like-that-of-a-solar-panel/ Getting up early A solar panel gets up bright and early in the morning. As soon as the sun starts to rise, so does its level of output. Its current is sluggish at first, but soon the electricity really starts to flow. I’ve spent the past two days trying to train myself to get up [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=6585 Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:13:48 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/11/what-its-like-to-start-a-new-blog/ I’ve been thinking of starting a blog for a long time now.  It wasn’t until my husband suggested that I do a blog that the idea finally began to take shape.  I tried thinking of what I could write about that would be of relevance to people, since my interests tend to be rather narrow [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=81 Sun, 12 Dec 2010 04:31:45 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/10/the-best-solar-power-video-ever/ This powerful video sums up nicely the reason why I maintain this site.  There isn’t much more to say…you just have to watch it below. http://realizen.com/sr/?p=66 Sat, 11 Dec 2010 02:38:22 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/07/the-beautiful-simplicity-of-solar-panels/ It might be hard to see, but I see an implicit beauty to solar panels. A solar panel has just one purpose in life, and that is to generate electricity for as long as it can.  When it is manufactured, its purpose in life never has a chance to be ambiguous.  It is readily apparent [...] http://realizen.com/sr/?p=11 Wed, 08 Dec 2010 04:22:23 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2011/01/14/looking-back-on-the-first-week-of-class/ I’m just now sitting down today to do my blog post.  Today is Friday but it’s been a busy day!  We did our recycling trip and had a wonderful lunch out, then did some water system maintenance and filled some orders.  I’ve been slow to get to my blog posts this week because I’ve been staying [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=27499 Sat, 15 Jan 2011 02:08:09 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2011/01/11/first-day-at-durham-tech/ Yesterday I had my first class at Durham Tech. I got up at 6 AM sharp, then got ready to leave around 6:45. It wasn’t too hard to get ready to go at all, since I had practiced it a number of times. And although I had only tried the drive to Durham Tech’s main [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=23351 Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:33:40 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2011/01/09/last-day-before-school/ Well, it looks like this is the last day I will have to wait before I go back to school! I’ve been reading through my textbook for Basic Wiring I, and I’ve downloaded a copy of the NABCEP PV Installer study guide to my new iPad to study in my free time (it has more [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=21920 Sun, 09 Jan 2011 17:15:14 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2011/01/05/my-first-trip-to-durham-techs-main-campus/ More than enough excitement for the day Today was the most tiring day in a while. I woke up at 6:35, left around 7:15, and took 25 minutes to get to Durham Tech’s main campus in a drive that just fell short of harrowing at times. The traffic was not any heavier than usual, but [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=18233 Thu, 06 Jan 2011 01:50:02 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2011/01/04/new-textbook-for-first-class-6-days-from-now/ I’m finding it imperative that I do my blogging at my first sign of quality free time. Tonight I finished my orders at 8:15, and I immediately ran upstairs to my computer. I have to go to bed on time tonight because tomorrow morning I’m making my first dry run of my morning trip to [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=17111 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 02:16:46 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/19/durham-tech-co-op-calc/ I have calculated that I will very likely be able to do my co-op during spring semester 2012, which will be exactly 1 year and 22 days from now if spring semester 2012 starts on the same day as spring semester 2011. That’s a year and 22 days before I get to work at an [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=6170 Sun, 19 Dec 2010 21:16:35 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/17/starting-spring-2011-at-durham-tech/ Today was a breakthrough day as far as my solar education was concerned.  I called the operations director at about 10:30 this morning just like he told me if I hadn’t received my PIN number for course registration yet.  He got back with me at 2 PM this afternoon, and we set an appointment for [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=5251 Sat, 18 Dec 2010 02:12:10 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/16/preparing-for-the-renewable-energy-diploma/ Today I asked my husband what he thought about me going back to school and doing the Renewable Energy Diploma at Durham Tech.  I mentioned what I had learned the other day while I was there, and how excited I was about the program.  He was excited that I was so excited, and saw it [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=4694 Fri, 17 Dec 2010 04:57:48 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/15/applied-to-durham-techs-solar-technology-course/ It took me a while, but yesterday I went to Durham Tech’s Orange County campus and completed my application for the Solar Technology course.  The two people I spoke with were enormously helpful, and I ended up submitting my application as a visiting student also – to get my foot in the door for the [...] http://www.realizen.com/sr/?p=3887 Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:47:30 +0000 http://www.realizen.com/sr/2010/12/09/solar-technology-at-durham-tech/ Last night I went through the Continuing Education magazine that Durham Technical Community College sent to my mailbox.  I’d been getting these schedules for a long time, in addition to other material since about the time I left UNC with my master’s in ecology.  I had already become familiar with Durham Tech’s website as well [...] http://realizen.com/sr/?p=26 Thu, 09 Dec 2010 20:47:12 +0000