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Solar System Powers Donggwang Green Village on Semi-Tropical Jeju Island

Donggwang is on the western half of Jeju-do, the largest of South Korea’s semi-tropical southern islands. Near the village, Halla Mountain, a volcano and the tallest mountain in South Korea, rises from the island’s center amidst a patchwork of small farms.

Donggwang has achieved what even the most powerful countries in the world are still struggling to accomplish: total energy independence with clean technology.

In many ways, Shinhyocheon is just a typical suburb. It’s in Nam-gu, on the southern outskirts of Gwangju, one of South Korea’s biggest cities. In fact, if you don’t look closely, the Shinhyocheon solar village is easy to miss. Of the 1.4 million people living in Gwangju, most have never heard of it. Local taxi drivers wrinkle their brows and shrug; even the tourist information center in downtown Gwangju has trouble finding it on the map.

But for those who know it, Shinhyocheon deserves a place in energy history. In 2004, it became South Korea’s first solar village – a neighborhood of 64 solar powered houses where residents enjoy cheap, clean energy. The solar panels in this neighborhood generate over 115 MW of energy in a year. For each resident, that translates into an annual savings of around $589 USD, or a total of $37,700 for all 64 houses combined.

Inspired by Shinhyocheon’s success, the local government is planning to expand the number of solar houses in Nam-gu by adding 340 new sun-powered residential buildings.

Everything is going green these days, even Barbie (NOT!).  Hasbro is introducing the first world edition of its classic board game Monopoly featuring renewable energy.  Wind energy and solar energy will replace the utilities of water works and the electric company. Phil Jackson, Group Executive, Hasbro Games stated,  “In a nod to the efforts of countries worldwide to increase the effectiveness and availability of renewable energy sources, we decided to feature Solar […]

Editor’s note: OK, most of the posts here at Feelgood Style are directed at women, but the guys like to look good, too (well, occasionally). This week, our friends at Life Goggles found a great product for the well-groomed greenie: a solar-powered electric shaver. This post was originally published on Monday, April 21st, 2008.

I like the idea of a solar shaver, available from Nigel’s Eco Store. It’s clearly designed for traveling with […]

Light passing through the One Day Poem Pavilion’s perforations creates a poem that changes according to the solar calendar. During the summer solstice, the poem is about “new life”. During the winter solstice, the poem’s theme is the “reflection and the passing of time.” Each hour, a new line of the poem is revealed by the passage of the sun.

Via: Monster-Munch

Britain is not known for good weather. In fact, to be honest, the weather is lousy, and at certain times of the year only the most foolish Englishman ventures out without an umbrella.

For this reason, solar power has long been discounted in favour of wind on this blustery island where one’s neighbours are likely to raise a few eyebrows should one be so eccentric as to cover the roof in solar panels.

This was certainly on the mind of Ashley Seager when he laid out the princely sum of £8,500 ($16,900) in 2007 for the installation of a 3 kilowatt solar power generation system for his South London home. However, one year later and despite a year of weather that has been poor even by British standards, Ashley’s investment is beginning to pay dividends having generated 92% of the Seager household’s annual electricity requirement.

The other day, my daughter asked me what time it was. I gazed up at the sun and told her it was 3:30 pm.  She checked her watch, and then in astonishment asked me how I knew the time.  She had no idea that you could tell time from the sun, even after we had just visited the Sundial Bridge and read the time from its cast shadows.  I was reminded of a project I used to do as part of a unit on solar energy when I was teaching K-8:  Human sundials.

To help children learn how the sun moves across the sky and how shadows are formed, the human sundial project takes a whole day.  First thing in the morning when the sun is up, go outside with your child and trace their shadow with some chalk.  Mark an X where your child is standing so they can return to the same spot.  Switch roles and have your child trace your shadow in a different spot. Then, return every hour and repeat tracing your shadows and recording the time on each shadow. By the end of the day, your child will see how their shadow moves in accordance with the sun’s path, as well as changes shape.

3TIER: one of the largest independent providers of wind, solar and hydro energy assessment and power forecasting worldwide announced the opening of an office in Bangalore, India today. It should be noted here that India is one of the top four wind-power markets in the world and also, the most developed market in Asia.

According to Kenneth Westrick, fonder and CEO of 3TIER, “India has the elements needed to prove that it is possible to leapfrog fossil fuels and fully integrate renewable energy projects into a country’s energy portfolio. He further elaborated on his statement by informing that India has good wind resources in its southern and western states, tremendous potential to tap into solar and hydropower, a government commitment to explore renewable energy sources and a market of more than 1 billion people – including 420 million people with no access to electricity.

Of the total number of villages in India with no access to electricity, it can said with absolute certainty that close to 40% of these cannot be electrified using fossil fuels. Thus, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydropower can play an even greater role by electrifying remote parts of the country. “As the most densely populated country in the world with many villages that have no electricity, there is strong demand to augment the power grid in India,” said Steven Cashen, 3TIER’s Director of International Marketing Development. “3TIER will work closely with developers to assess and forecast potential wind, solar and hydro energy projects.” explained Cashen.

The world’s largest solar kitchen serves up to 38,500 meals per day in Taleti, India. The solar kitchen is a special demonstration project of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India.
Source:  Inhabitat 

Top international environmental news for during the week of April 6 - 13:

Europe — World’s first commercial tidal turbine installed (EcoGeek)

“The world’s first commercial tidal turbine has been installed in its home in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough.

Though it has yet to be turned on, it will be the first commercial power-producing tidal generator when it is (sometime later this year). The turbine has two 16 meter-wide rotors and will be able to run for 18-20 hours a day. The turbine was installed off the coast in an area known for fast moving waters, and because the rotors will only spin 10-20 times in a minute, it is unlikely to disturb marine life.”

Source: EcoGeek. Hot in media: Digg EcoGeek, Digg TimesOnline.

Africa — Tree-Nation (Tree-Nation)

“Tree-Nation is an ecological project with a focused objective: To plant 8 million trees in Niger, Africa to fight desertification! Large-scale plantation of trees will increase the land’s productivity and re-generate the soil.

Solar thermal energy plants focus the glare of the Sun’s rays on a central location to create heat, which is then turned into electricity. Various methods exist to concentrate the solar radiation, including parabolic troughs, power towers with mirrors that track the Sun (heliostats), parabolic dishes, and Fresnel reflectors. See a history of solar thermal energy.

For comparison with solar photovoltaics, see the world’s 13 biggest photovoltaic solar energy projects.