Global Warming: Real or Myth

[ photo source: zmescience.com ]

Extreme weather has become the new normal

But for a layman's point of view, it's paranormal

All across the land we suffer from Poseidon's wrath

Yet we ignore his warnings, and act like a spoiled brat

Make no mistake about global warming-- 

Science has given us unequivocal warning

It's for real--and happening faster than ever

Work on solutions; otherwise, it's now or never

The deep blue seas are beginning to rise
from the polar regions due to melting ice;
caused by the hotter sun and earth's reflectiveness,
as well as greenhouse gases from human activities

Human activities - burning of fossil fuels: coal and oil

Continuous actions causing greenhouse effect more severe

A few have attempted to raise awareness but failed to foil

Increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere

Makes the earth warmer causing erratic climate change

Deforestation for agriculture and community development

Threatens the biological diversity of the world that's why I lament

Together with half of all plant and animal species in the forests

Who would protect our unique ecosystems if we lay down to rest?

Increase in famines, earthquakes and other natural disasters:

              scorching wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes and record floods

The list could go on and on... as long and frequent as it gets

Are these signs of the end times as written by St. Matthew?

We know a whole lot more, we just pretend to ignore

"Warning: we are not to be deceived

These events are only the beginning of birth pains;

The end is still to come..."

Women: Are They In Binders?

Gentle is the touch of a woman's hand,
as she glides expertly in the abyss of perpetual darkness
emerging from the sea of tumultuous clouds,
and spraying the rows of thirsty palms
along the blazing desert of inferno
with a deep bass and chattered sound, stuttering...
like an old sewing machine, stitching to the ground.

If the hand that pulls a trigger and kills without empathy
belongs to a Woman...
Does it make any difference?
Women have greater compassion and sensitivity
according to some clinical study
Taking lives-- not giving, sustaining and nurturing;
is it a cultural shift not in the right direction?

Women in society, are they in binders?
    They give Life,
          sustain Life,
                 nurture Life...

Somebody claimed he had a binder full of women;
it makes me wonder what they can do...
For as long as they are just in binders,
in oblivion will remain, and voiceless forever.

Women who demand equal pay and equal rights          
send the unexpecting into a whirlwind of confusion;          
while those who are gender-biased and narcissistic,
may find it hard to swallow and comprehend.
       
Don't women deserve anything greater?
For sometimes they could led better,
either in combat or office settings, and many more...
Let's ask Lilly, for she knew--it's now or never.

______________________________________________________
 (This is my tribute to Lilly Ledbetter* and to our women combat pilots)
                          Photo source: racialicious.com

                     copyright 2012 Engr. Victor P. Vizarra


* Note: (From Wikipedia)

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (Pub.L. 111-2, S. 181) is a federal statute in the United States that was the first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 29, 2009. The Act amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964stating that the 180-day statute of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination resets with each new paycheck affected by that discriminatory action. The law directly addressed Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., 550U.S. 618 (2007), a U.S. Supreme Court decision that the statute of limitations for presenting an equal-pay lawsuit begins on the date that the employer makes the initial discriminatory wage decision, not at the date of the most recent paycheck.

Solar And Wind Energy (Excerpt From My Open Letter To A Municipal Official)

(photo source: istockphoto)

First of all, I would like to greet you and all our townmates a happy fiesta, an annual town celebration which brings back a lot of childhood memories.

Going back to my childhood days in OMPSA, I saw a young and bright student who vowed to himself that never again will he let the future generations of his beloved town suffer the same experience he had while studying under a dimly-lit room and literally burning his eyebrows every time his head accidentally touches the gas lamp (made out of empty coffee jar), which provided the much needed light. To pursue his dreams, he studied Electrical Engineering in college hoping that someday after gaining some expertise in his chosen field, he would be able to alleviate if not totally eliminate the problem of having no electricity or lack thereof, that currently besieged our town and the whole province of Marinduque.

That young and bright student is now a successful and experienced Electrical Engineer; ten years away from his retirement is no other than yours truly, Engr. Victor Perlas Vizarra, at your service. I could not believe that we still have the same power and energy problems thirty-nine years ago, after I left our town to pursue my dreams and seek for greener pastures in a far away land, they called the land of milk and honey. I could not wait for another ten years, for me to be able to give back to my beloved town of Torrijos. I believe the time has finally come for me to get out of the sidelines and take the necessary actions to help your good office and with all honest intentions tackle the immense task of preventing brown-outs.

Why don’t we harness the power of the sun and wind (which are bountiful in our area) to provide us with the much needed source of electrical energy? If given the opportunity, I propose the following solutions to our power and energy problems which consist of four stages:

I.   Installation of a prototype solar panel

       A)  In public buildings such as hospitals, puericulture centers, municipal hall, etc.
       B)  Funding of this project may come from non-profit organizations and private citizens or this could be a joint venture between the local government and private citizens.

II.   Providing a classroom or some sort of building structure for solar panel manufacturing

       A) Training our out-of-school youth and jobless members of our community learn the basic skills of soldering and practical electricity.
        B) Once they become knowledgeable and proficient, they will provide the needed manpower to assemble the solar panels that we need. In return we are not only giving them jobs but quite literally, a bright future.
        C) This portion could be tied-up to the local government’s livelihood program.  

III.   Installation of solar panels on rooftops or ground structures of private residences

       A) Those more fortunate and well to do members of our community can do this on their own by buying directly from our self-manufactured solar panels or get their panels from a third party vendor.
        B) This privately installed solar panels shall be tied-up to the local electrical grid, so that in cases of excess power generated by the solar panels, they will be able to supply power back to the grid which will enable them to sustain the diesel generators used to supply power to the less fortunate members of our community.
        C) The government shall provide subsidies to private homeowners in terms of credits earned by supplying excess power to the local grid to entice the private sector to participate in these efforts. This would be subjected to your discretion.

IV.   Rural electrification using both solar panels and wind turbines

        A) Solar power and wind power are an ideal combination of providing non-conventional or renewable forms of energy sources. The solar panels work best in day time and wind turbines will provide the much needed boost at night time to charge the storage batteries that we need to store the energy generated by both solar and wind power.
        B) Wind turbines are noisy and require strategic positioning that’s why I do not recommend them for installation in the town proper. They should be installed in individual homes in the rural areas.

For details of my proposals, please feel free to contact me anytime. To start with, I would like to request your good office to send me an electrical plan of your public hospital complete with power and lighting loads so I can start my feasibility studies. You can give the plans to Architect Glee Rosas who will be there during the town fiesta or send the plans directly to my home address above. It would be great if you can also include the perspective drawing of the hospital.

I hope you agree with my proposed approach to providing solutions to our power and energy problems instead of building whole arrays of solar power plants and fields of wind turbines which would require a lot of financial funding; I believe we could not afford to provide. My approach to solving our problem is not complex at all. All we need is active participation from each member of the community. If we work hand-in-hand, we will accomplish great things even beyond our wildest imaginations.

Thank you for your precious time and once again, Happy Fiesta to ALL…Mabuhay tayong lahat!


Sincerely,


Engr. Victor Vizarra


Note: I wrote this letter last year to a town official in our beloved province. Unfortunately, I did not get any response at all. I will not stop until my vision of rural electrification - that is for every household, even the poorest of the poor in remote areas shall be provided with power and lighting. I know this is a big task and a real challenge, that's why I'm asking for every one's help and cooperation. We need to start somewhere, and I'm glad some of you are already doing it, while others are interested and willing to do it. Now, for those of you who are interested in my proposals, you can contact me at engr.vizarra@yahoo.com.

                                                         
                         
                   

Collection of Haiku Poems

4 seasons

forever changing seasons 

buds peep from the ground

waking up from long hiatus

two hearts beat as one.

fiery golden rays

kissing the glistening crests

ignite mortal souls

sea of golden hues

drifting with the passing wind

sorrows left behind

fluffy as cotton 

embracing the mountain sides

love is all we got

_____________________________________________________________

Fall in The Capitol

 Fall in DC

bursting of colors

along washington parkway

soothing to my soul

the call of the wild

along potomac river

music to my ears

beauty of nature

dancing with the passing wind

whispering good-bye

if now we don't care

future generations die

robbed of nature's best

we owe to our youth

what our forefathers had left

conserve and protect

join me in my plea

send e-mails to capitol

preserve nature's wealth

my spirit roams

in my own niche of the woods

our legacy lives

__________________________________________________________

copyright 2012 Engr. Victor Perlas Vizarra

Infinite Loop (The Hourglass)

___________________________________________________

copyright 2012 Engr. Victor Perlas Vizarra

"He Didn't Build That" I Did...(Part 3)

Solar Panel Array: Number of Panels Needed

Solar-powered bahay kubo (original photo from: Hagikhikan)

Before proceeding with cost savings and payback calculations, let us discuss some important topics such as solar panel sizing, electrical loads and Ohm’s Law which is the basic formula that we are going to use.
In its simplest form, Ohm's law states that the current in an electrical circuit is directly proportional to the applied voltage and the resistance of the circuit. The three (3) most common mathematical expressions are:

 P= V * I                    I = P / V        V = P / I = I * R

Where:
P = Power : the product of the voltage times the current in an electrical circuit measured in watts
V= Voltage : the electromotive force (pressure) applied to an electrical circuit measured in volts
I = Current : the flow of electrons in an electrical circuit measured in amperes
R = Resistance : the opposition to the flow of electrons in an electrical circuit measured in ohms

Example Only: ( Based on a daily usage)

LOAD DESCRIPTION                  RATING     HOURS     WATT-HRS.   
_____________________________________________________
LAPTOP                                             75 watts     4          300  
LIGHTING (4x15-watt CFL)               60 watts     5          300
ELECTRIC FAN                                 120 watts     6          720
TELEVISION                                     100 watts     6          600
REFRIGERATOR (35% run-time)       120 watts     8          960

TOTAL DAILY WATT-HOURS REQUIRED = 2,88O WATT-HOURS

In the Philippines which is a tropical country and has plenty of sunshine we can get at least 8 to 10 hours of daily sunshine. Use 5 hours daily average sunlight for mid-latitude in the US.

NUMBER OF SOLAR PANELS NEEDED:

Although I used a 45-watt panel for my experiment last year, I recommend using a 100-watt  solar panel currently available at Home Depot as of this writing, at $199.00 each with free shipping within the US except GU, PR and VI. This is the Grape Solar 100-Watt Monocrystalline PV Solar Panel. This is a whole lot cheaper and more efficient. I got mine on sale last year for $149.99 from Harbor Freight Tools and their regular price is $299.99. You will need two of these, as compared to one from Home Depot, and still you are 10 watts below capacity. Let's stick to our example load description for computational purposes, as follows:

Grape Solar 100-Watt Monocrystalline PV Solar Panel

Using a 100-watt solar panel and assuming 8 hours of sunshine, that would give us 800 watt-hours per day per panel.

Total number of solar panels = 2,880 watt-hours/800 watt-hours per day = 3.6 = approx. 4

Therefore, use: 4 solar panels with a capacity of 100 watts each.


Based on our example daily load requirements, our total solar panel cost would be:

          Total solar panel cost = 4 panels x $200.00 = $800.00 + tax

This cost does not include the DC batteries needed for storing solar energy during night time and extreme weather conditions without sunlight. The inverter needed to convert DC power to AC power (power coming out from your regular power/lighting outlets) is also not yet included in our cost.

Basically, if you live in the rural areas and just need power for electric fans, some lighting at night and some juice for charging your I-pads, I-phones, notebooks and other portable devices, all you really need is a 100-watt solar panel and a solar charge controller which usually come free with the kit. Otherwise, you can buy the controller below $20.00 from Amazon.com. Connect your solar panel in parallel with wind turbine and your electrical needs 24/7, 365 days a year, are all set. You don’t have to worry about brown-outs anymore.

Every year the cost of solar panels are going down and the designs are becoming more efficient brought about by technology advances. Direct savings is realized if you actually connect your DC appliances and other DC power requirements directly to the solar charge controller and you’re off-grid, meaning not connected to any utility power company. That means all your appliances and light bulbs should be rated either 12-volt DC or 24-volt DC. The solar panel can generate as high as 27.8 - 29.5 volts DC, that’s why you need a charge controller to regulate the voltage at either 12 or 24 volts depending upon your needs.

This is just a bird’s eye view of how much is involved in owning solar panels. If you really need to know how much it would cost you to have solar panels installed in your homes, it would need an in-depth analysis of your actual monthly electric usage for a period of 12 months, and also actual survey of your house location to determine the best location and efficient utilization of your solar power system.

For a more detailed information, take a look at Wall Street Journal’s study on the economics of installing residential solar in 5 US cities.

What I can say right now, with the government incentives and rebates, as well as lease options being offered by companies such as SolarCity,  SunPower Corporation and other solar companies, there is no better time than now, to start using solar energy. Right now, you don’t have to shell out $20,000 - $30,000 as initial investment for your solar panel system. Instead, you just pay for usage of the solar panels which are owned by the solar companies. You will have considerable savings and significantly lower monthly payments than your electric bills from your current utility providers. Utility companies bill you for transmission and distribution charges which will be eliminated when you use solar. Another advantage is helping your environment to become free from pollution caused by diesel and fossil-fuel generating power plants.

Is it not a good legacy for our grandchildren and their children in the future to have a pollution free environment?