okay, well bright is the key – for solar panels anyway. i made some simple solar panels tonite but the magic comes from DreamWalker’s sun follow script. in OpenSim worlds, like Second Life and Reaction Grid, you have wind and the sun moves. DreamWalker scripted our wind turbines last week to react to wind strength and direction =)
now a day is three hours of light and one hour of nite. DreamWalker’s script checks the sun’s position every five minutes and rotates the solar panels so they stay facing the sun!
now that is bright!
Enclave Harbor will demonstrate many “green” practices (might even make a small outpost-sized nuclear reactor for Energon, the domed post-apocalyptic colony) and subQuark is working on an environmental awareness programme that can be used by schools and businesses
a solar farm! baby flashlights running amok!
where's my hardhat?
oh well, my head is pretty hard =D
Oh that is wicked sweet! let me find my shades…
KrissyMcK
24 Feb 10 at 10:00 am
hey you posted on your blog! i had given up on it! nice with your maze. so DW says you are quite the builder now? wanna try to build your saloon in reaction grid?
iliveisl
25 Feb 10 at 8:36 am
In RL photovoltaics sun-following is actually “out”. The panels have become so cheap lately, that it makes more economic sense to simply add a few kilowatt worth of panels even if they run at reduced capacity, than adding expensive and cumbersome (and prone to mechanical defects) mechanical components. Adjusting the panels to the sun makes only sense in areas where there is extremely limited space for the panels.
Still, it looks cool :-)
Peter Stindberg
26 Feb 10 at 8:19 am
cool info on the solar panels and that makes sense. the motors and equipment needed to move panels must be fairly complex and expensive
sounds like i need to make some convex arrays, think quarter and half spheres covered with panels that can collect rays regardless of the sun’s position
thanks for the inspiration!
Ener Hax
26 Feb 10 at 9:42 am
Convex panels are basically only used on solar thermic arrays (= heating up a liquid either for the warm liquid itself, or for heat exchangers or for steam turbines). Given the approximation that the sunrays all come in in parallel (which is sufficiently accurate given the suns extreme size and the small size of the panels), photovoltaic panels are usually flat. There is experimentation with amorphous silicium which has the disadvantage of an overall lower effectiveness, coupled with the advantages of a) cheaper, b) bringing results even in overcast skies and c) being able to bend around corners.
I found a rather impressive solar energy plant a few weeks ago in SL. I try to find it again and send you the landmark.
Peter Stindberg
27 Feb 10 at 3:42 am
hmm, well maybe it’s time to see if virtual worlds can help science turn paradigms on their head! i know that IBM does neat mashups with Lotus Notes and Google Earth to do 3D data visualization
sounds like you have a science background? or maybe better yet, an enthusiast about science?
i have a bachelors in physical science (major geology, double minor of math and chemistry) and a Masters in Science Ed (geoscience)
fire off some more thoughts like these and maybe we can add some neat thinking to the virtual world (you already have made me look at things a bit differently, and that is a very cool thing to do)
thank you Peter! =)
iliveisl
27 Feb 10 at 9:12 am
[...] solar farm (thank you DreamWalker for scripting these, they work great!) [...]
A Year of Thanks to Ener at subQuark
31 Dec 10 at 4:38 pm