Hot Water @ MindSay 
Main Video Links:
SRCC Certifications: An Unexpected Reality. The Simple Truth.
This is a "Real" pressure test of FSEC internal number 00318 evac solar collector, the first random pick.
Nothing here is fake. The manifold remains steady at 160 PSI through the entire video shoot lasting 4+ hours.
http://en.sevenload.com/videos/hfbUaLsn-SRCC-Certifications-An-Unexpected-Reality-The-Si
http://www.dailymotion.com/user/whfiii2000/video/x9ekrh_srcc-certifications-an-unexpected-r_news
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snqnn_Bc98I
http://revver.com/video/1686645/srcc-certifications-an-unexpected-reality-the-simple-truth/
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=58015053
NOTE: MySpace censored the last 50 seconds of the video.
SRCC Certifications: An Unexpected Reality. FSEC Claims Pipe Expansion/Small Fittings.
This refers to claims made by the FSEC that they had to modify the ends of #00318 collector manifold to perform the exposure test. Their exact wording is in the main story under the section titled, The Ridiculous:
http://en.sevenload.com/videos/gnPTTHCn-SRCC-Certifications-An-Unexpected-Reality-FSEC-C
http://www.dailymotion.com/user/whfiii2000/video/x9euu0_srcc-certifications-an-unexpected-r_news
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW9aCtvnOyU
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=58032755
SRCC Certifications: How Should Solar Thermal Incentives Be Paid?
NOTE** This video is designed to be entertaining and funny with out takes from the 4+ hour main shoot, regarding the SRCC/FSEC fiasco:
Main Story link:
http://www.propeller.com/story/2009/01/31/srcc-certifications-an-unexpected-reality/
The video shows you moments of "stress relief" for the girls!! ...mixed with sound bites from me. The article below reflects the serious discussion about the subject of solar incentives.......
http://en.sevenload.com/videos/TWZi491n-SRCC-Certifications-How-Should-Solar-Thermal-I
http://www.dailymotion.com/user/whfiii2000/video/x9k1bn_srcc-certifications-how-should-sola_news
http://www.viddler.com/explore/fcfcfc/videos/3/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfgq09e0R78
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=58832469
SRCC Certifications: An Unexpected Reality. Out Takes.
More crazy "stuff".
Soon to be released....
***Side Note:
Two video sites to AVOID if you are trying to get material out there:
www.clipshack.com and www.megavideo.com.
They practice blatant censoring and just delete your videos with no explanation and will not respond when you send them messages regarding such. These are two bad video sites!!!
These are exceptions to the rule. Most sites will at least respond when questions are asked and do not practice censoring.
Main story link:
http://www.propeller.com/story/2009/01/31/srcc-certifications-an-unexpected-reality/
As a personal note, what an experience this whole shoot was!! I have never done anything like this before. It really gives you appreciation for people that have to step in front of the camera as well as the work done behind the scenes in post production..... I wish to thank Brian for the HD shoots and post work, Nick for the gracious use of his home and especially the girls, Tina and Amanda who had never done anything like this.... They were GREAT!!!
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SRCC Certifications: How Should Solar Thermal Incentives Be Paid?
I think it is fair to say, the solar thermal industry has always been the underdog since the PV industry started to blossom. Prior to that it was the flag of choice carried by renewable energy advocates, dauntingly flying in the face of the conventionals fuels industry. It received a 40% no accountability tax credit win, that had the sweetness of arsenic and almost equal lethality. Successes were the in the majority, but a few bad apples can spoil the whole bunch.
The twenty years following the elimination of the Federal tax incentives saw the remainder of the industry creeping along, slowly improving in all aspects from product engineering, best practices and the like. By the time the 2005 energy bill came along, the lobby had changed from, “warmth in the sun” to, “electrons dancing”. “ Beginning with Ronnie through the second Bush, the end of the tunnel could not be seen let alone the light. “Gun ho” thermal pushes were reduced to, “we will take what we can get” table scraps. They dare not say, “please sir, can I have more?”
Economic turmoil and a change of the guard, at least on the surface, provided renewed opportunity for glasses to be filled. Unfortunately the shape of the glass for solar thermal remained the same. Post elimination of the solar tax credits, never motivated into a re-visitation of the methodology of reimbursement or reward.
So what is wrong with the current and historical way solar thermal incentives are paid, I.E. one shot up front subsidies contingent upon SRCC certification? To get a clear picture of this, you have to stand back and ask yourself, “as a world, what should we (Government we) be rewarding when it comes to renewable energy?” The answer is simple. Initial creation and continued production. Incentives for solar thermal systems (Federal and states with some variance) have always been paid based on a percentage of the total system cost, reimbursed as tax credit dollars for the implementation filing year.
First, this means you are not paying for what the system produces but what the system costs to install. An assumption is made that if a system costs “xyz” dollars and is for DHW, then it will produce “this” amount of energy. No actual measure of installed site output is even put in place for possible verification on the vast majority of systems.
Second, once the system has gotten its one shot up front incentive, (If SRCC approved collectors are used) if the customer wants they can take it down the following year and still have their full subsidy. Practically speaking one would not do this, but the point is with this Government payment system the reward is expended and there is no incentive for continued production, except reduced expenditures though conventional “fuel” usage. Those savings can vary a lot over time based on current market prices. Once the system has paid for itself, the customer gets a “feeling” of completion, and the motivation through “savings only” can give way to many external variables, not the least of which is roof replacement and system maintenance. I acquired three high quality flat plate collectors on the way to the scrap yard for $100 each, that had gotten the “roof boot”. Historically, thousands and thousands of others were recycled or land filled. So the possible total energy output over the life of the product was not realized, not because of product failure but do to a lack of motivation on the customers part to keep the system producing.
Third, a statistical numbers game abuse scenario serves to illustrate: Company “A”, a good reputable solar company and Company “B” a shrewd solar company. Company “A” and company “B” buy and sell the same solar SRCC approved SDHW system. Company “A” sells the system to the customer for $5000. Company “B” sells it for $10,000. With combined state and federal incentives, this customer gets a 50% subsidy. So, company “A”’s customer gets back $2500 and ends up paying an end cost of $2500. Company “B”’s customer gets back $5000. Additionally, company “B” offers a $4000 mfg. rebate. The $4000 comes out of the extra $5000 the customer paid company ”B”, making their end cost only $1000. Company “B” ends up pocketing an extra $1000 in the process! The tax payer becomes the victim, because for the $5000 dollars we put to our government, we only got one SDHW system installed instead of two. Correct me if I am wrong, but there is nothing anyone can do about this as such. It is a result of what happens when upfront subsidies get to a certain point if they are paid on a percentage basis.
Fourth, John Doe has put in for him, an SRCC certified SDHW system for $6000. His system produces around 8 million BTU’s a year. Lucky Pete puts together his own solar SDHW and space heating system being a very creative and experienced DIY’er, for $6000. Lucky Pete’s system produces around 24 million BTU’s a year, three times the amount of John’s system. The current Federal government program and possible state added subsidies reward John with $3000 of tax incentives (50%). Lucky Pete gets zero dollars! Why? Because Pete’s collectors were not SRCC certified and from the state’s perspective, he was not a NABCEP or IREC certified installer, depending on individual state programs. Clearly we are not rewarding the production of solar renewable energy?
If we actually paid incentives on what a system produces over time, in a two tier fashion (Initial cost and ongoing production), the numbers game goes away and the second issue gets a lot more motivation to keep a system producing. Lucky Pete also gets rewarded, and continues to as long as his system keeps producing, a good motivator for such. Attributes like creativity and inventiveness get spurred as well, which is equitable and fair to all from mfg’s to customers. Special interests would have a much harder time influencing and manipulating the system.
Critics would argue that obtaining thermal production data is near impossible and bureaucratically taxing. However remote data collection has progressed light years in the last two decades. Such technology eliminated the meter reader and provides security and environmental 24/7 coverage for millions of businesses and residences. Solar thermal controllers are currently available for BTU production and the controller market would explode if the “rules of the game” were changed.
With a system like this, the government wins because it does not have to pay a big amount all at once up front, freeing up funds for continued production incentives over time. The people win because as long as they produce, they get rewarded not only by conventional fuel savings but on the energy they capture. The market wins because now entities like the SRCC have to pull their own weight based on what they bring to the market, without a guaranteed customer base. And the planet wins because there is a system of rewards that actually invites RE production systems to be created and maintained based on a rock solid concept, energy production.
SRCC Solar Ratings and Certification Corporation
NABCEP North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners
NESEA NorthEast Sustainable Energy Association
ASES American Solar Energy Society
IREC International Renewable Energy Council
BTU British Thermal Unit
RE Renewable Energy
DHW Domestic Hot Water
SDHW Solar Domestic Hot Water
DIY Do-It-Yourself
Today YY found the only new people at church and gave them a lecture on aardvarks before I could catch her. Of course it was the visiters, who don't know us, and don't understand my daughter's current obsession with long snouted animals that eat ants. That child seriously needs a LEASH. Hopefully these people come back to church next week! And she decided to try several bagels on the food table. This i discovered when I picked up three different bagels with fang marks. (She has no front teeth,so her canines really resemble fangs.)
Now she's flailing on the floor screaming because she has to put on jeans that DON'T have sparkles. (The sparkled jeans are in the laundry. She's worn them every day for the past 2 weeks.) And Mean old mom made peanut butter sandwiches using peanuts with chunks! (it was what they gave me at the food pantry)
I'm tired and cranky and getting sick, so every little things just buggin me. really,She's not so bad. I mean how many almost 4 year olds can even SAY aardvark, let alone know its feeding and mating habits and ideal habitat? I have too many kids right now, and we're stretched too thin. But thats life. We'll get through it, somehow. we always do.and a person I considered a friend seems to have reappered. Yay.
First thank you to atticsmouse , mamajo , and myclette for giving me encouraging words:D You guys are the greatest!
I feel a little bit better today. Even though I cleaned up the kids' heads, I am keeping home again today. Their heads are sore from the dayum shampoo. Plus once I get the last of the bedding and laundry washed in steaming hot water, I am going to treat their heads with veggie oil like Kym suggested. I refuse to be like other parents, treat once and then send back to school. I treated w/ the shampoo and today with veggie oil and next week with the shampoo again.
I rearranged my doctor appointments, I didn't want to go anywhere yesterday or today. I wanted to get my house back together. The doctor got back to me on what I thought was scar tissue from a mole biopsy, he wants to open it completely up and see what is going on because it isn't exactly scar tissue nor is it a skin tag. Once he sees what is going on in it he is going to completely remove the thing off and send it off for another biopsy. That is next week. I also changed my GI Surgan appointment to next week.
It rained all day yesterday to the point I had water coming out of the old orchard and streaming down the enbakment (how the hell do you spell that word?) on my drive and I have standing water in the one flat portion of my yard and in what use to be my garden. I am counting my blessings though that we arne't in the areas of NE, SD, and IA that are experancing flooding. It has been doing nothing but raining for about two weeks. My lawn looks like a dayum jungle! I bet if I look out there today sometime I will see minature monkey's swing from the grass and forest elephants and all those great animals! Last night I heard my pup Dooley just going crazy barking, whinning, growling, and moaning so I went out in the storm and the sky was a funky blue green. Well I wasn't about to screw with a possible tornado coming through so I unchained Dooley, rounded up the cats and brought them in. Ran down to the small barn and made sure the feral cats had a blanket and then moved the vechiles back about 50 feet from the house drive. We have an old tree that needs to come down and if a heavy enough storm comes through it will go down. Randy and my Uncle have been just waiting for the rain to stop to bring over a loader to stablize the tree while Randy goes up the tree and start bringing down branches before they bring the tree completely down.
Yesterday evening, we went down to my parents hosue so my mom could come through my hair thankfully I didn't have any nits, eggs, or bugs! I would have been soooooooooo pist! My hair may only be down to my shoulders but it is all one length and thick ass hell! Then they kept us for BLT sandwhichs and Papo took each of the kids down to his shop and had a lil chit chat with them. All he would tell me was that he asked them to continue helping me out. I am wondering if he didn't pull the whole responsiblilty thing on them:D
After we came home from dinner, I put some veggie oil w/ tea tree oil on the kids heads and sent them to bed. I sat down and just vegitated! I read 3 smut books and listened to George Clinton and Patra until about midnight and then I finally went to bed. I got up at 5:30 and started working on laundry again. I checked the kids and told them to go back to sleep and then called the school about 7:30 to let them know they wouldn't be in again today. I didn't have dial tone! I was like dayum I wonder if there are lines down somewhere! I went outside and realized that my lines were underground so I ran up the hill and asked my Auntie if she had phones. They have above ground lines. Yep. So I used the cell phone. Still drizzling outside and here I am dodging a Great Dane Pup with a soccer ball in mouth wanting to play, moving around the drive trying to find decent signal and it booms and the sky lights up and starts down pouring..........again! I finally got the call made to the school. Turned around and called the phone company and Steve got out here with in 5 minutes and fixed a broken line to the house. The whole time laughing at Dooley. My dog has serious issues with people but mainly men! He kept barking, moaning, and occasionally growling at Steve! It never fails I get the dogs that have mental issues!
I got my phones back, loaded dishes, have done more laundry, made bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast, and took my meds. Sebrina is a bit put out with me because this is the second day I have missed meeting her up at Native Curves for our workout but she also understands. Today I am hoping to have my house completely back from all the washing and so happy that I dont' have to go anywhere today. Okay to the store to get a pack of cigs.
Well, I've converted. Or I've become accustomed. Especially in winter. I guess working in a poorly heated office in zero degree weather helps. Holding the hot cup warms the hands. So sis-in-law you can now officially start calling me Heather Hot Water.
We are back in Linyi this evening and it is so cold! We finished up our visa paperwork in Qingdao and I was quite shocked when I found out that the whole process took only 4 days. (Turns out 4 days is the norm.) Our previous employer, Panam, kept our passports for nearly 3 months to accomplish the same thing - a residence visa and foreign expert certificate. Something seems fishy...
i was supposed to study today..but did i? well..no.
i went for a quick dip in the pool to cool down and then nat and mum decided they were gonna take a trip to the beach..so seeing asthough i hadnt been in months and it was really hot i decided to go aswell. we met our counsin at port beach with my aunty and then we met some of nats friends from hockey.
it wasnt that hot down at the beach. it was actually really nice, cooler there then it was at home.
the water was abit chilly at first but once you got in and were fully wet and you got used to it it was great. the waves at the start werent that big but they ended up to be pretty good..not heaps big..but they were ok. good enough to be good..not very good waves to body surf on. it was fair high tide so it was shallow fair far out in the water, but you'd be walking and all of a sudden you'd fall in a hole..it was soo funny coz all of a sudden you'd sink..lol..but not far enough to go to china..lol..sob story.
when we were going i saw rob and alicia..they were just sitting down on their towels i said hi to them both..i havent seen rob since the second last time i was at wests..
so yea..it was a good day..im glad i went..i wasnt going to go coz i was being abit self conscious and what not..but when i was in the water i didnt have a worry in the world..well except the possibility that when i dive under the wave i dive into an awaiting shark's mouth and then chomped on..but still i dived under the water and never got chomped..as you may have guess because if i had i would by blogging that and not this..lol..or id be in hospital and you all would be none the wiser..lol
"here in this diary i write you visions of my summer it was the best i ever had, there were choruses and sing-a-longs and that unspoken feeling of knowing that right now is all that matters. all the nights we stayed up talking listening to 80's songs and quoting lines from all those movies that we love. it still brings a smile to my face."
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