inter webs

[ewt]

Ellesmere Island ice shelf collapse. I wonder how this is going to affect shipping.

Solar lighting kit - pretty good for a garage or something. Looks reasonable. I wonder how much better it would be with LEDs though.

One World Cafe - So All May Eat.

Comments

[poetpaladin.livejournal.com]

Well, apparently some oceanic transport companies are excited about the opening of a Northwest Passage to the Orient.

[midnightmelody.livejournal.com]

That last link was brilliant, thank you!

[yady.livejournal.com]

That solar panel light thing is exactly what I'd want for the shed! (we have no electricity there and it'd be really rather nice to have light when parking bicycles at night...) I wonder if they ship here, and if we can afford such a thingie...

[battlekitty.livejournal.com]

'Kay. Lets watch me being opinionated for a bit.. ;)

I think they are using LEDs. 20% degredation is HUGE. Oh god, you don't ever discharge a (lead acid) battery to 20% value, as it will last about a year.

Also: the bit where they say they supply everything (bakerlight-1) is discredited at the point they say they don't supply the batteries. The batteries are, in certain situations, the most expensive bit, particularly if you're off-grid and want any sort of energy security. If you aren't off grid, you need a proper inverter, which is also Not-Exactly-Cheap. The -3 might be slightly better, but I think they've also contradicted themselves with this statement: "Every 2 hours of good sunshine will put enough charge back into the battery to run the lights for another hour at night (Beware other products with 5 - 10W solar panels claiming more than 2½ hours of light each night, as this is unsustainable)"

And no solar system is 100% maintenance free, unless you want your batteries to fail horribly.


....told you I was being opinionated! (Possibly also slightly drunk...)

[crankles.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting that last link - there's one in Denver not far from where I live!