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#Post#: 3924--------------------------------------------------
Informal Education for Alternate Energy
By: Cartichoke Date: July 20, 2014, 4:38 pm
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So what are the foundation skills for puttering and contributing
in the field of alternate energy? Since I've developed an
interest late(r) in life, I thought to take some part time
studies in engineering but it seems that might not be the tack
to take. I thought I'd poll you all and see what you suggest -
what pertinent educational/technical training or study you think
is pertinent to the field.
I'd like to put together a set of link resources for others like
me who are looking for some broader background whether casual,
semi-formal or formal with the caveat that it should be
available on the net. And perhaps we should divide the genera
knowledge from the technical / hands on skills - not that its
necessary but it seems that most of the skill set required here
in alternate energy is relevant to a host of other topics and
they might already have resources that others could borrow. I'm
happy to track down sites and resources if you have topic ideas
but no links and I'm also happy to sort through and perhaps
categorize the opposite - good sites but no specific topic.
#Post#: 3925--------------------------------------------------
The list - Informal Education for Alternate Energy
By: Cartichoke Date: July 20, 2014, 4:39 pm
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Given that I'm seeing most of this through a fog of ignorance,
here's a few areas where I'd like some more info - some I've
found a resource or two, some I've seen things but can't
remember where and some are just questions that seem to pop up
again and again.
General Knowledge
Basic Electronics
Electronics
HTML http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/
How and when to use tools for Electronics - multi-meters,
oscilloscopes, etc.
Component explanations / demonstrations - i.e. resistors,
capacitors, transformers
How to test circuits / trouble shoot
Reading circuit schematics
Math - what level / topics are core
Physics - core topics / basic primers for relevant concepts
Power Theory ( ...is there such a thing? Basically and
understanding of how to determine and measure
power needs for light, heat, cooking, etc. )
Technical Skills
Soldering
Brazing / Welding
Sheet Metal Skills
Plumbing
Woodworking Skills
Masonry (it was pretty minor but the rocket stove made use fire
bricks and furnace cement - those competent in the area likely
know of simple tricks and techniques that could improve the
efficiency of the designs)
Electrical Wiring
Breadboard / component prototyping
Circuit board making
CAD skills
Programming
ok... so now I'm slightly depressed. LOL Seriously though, I'm
not looking for expertise in each area but if you have on-line
resources that you often refer to to bolster your own
competence, I'd love to hear about them - and I'll consolidate
it into a single list for the interest of others.
Cheers!
#Post#: 3926--------------------------------------------------
Re: Informal Education for Alternate Energy
By: lynx wind Date: July 20, 2014, 5:13 pm
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Love it. I could start a new category and hopefully it could
remain somewhat clean of stray discussion. Or Start topics in
the appropriate category with a distinct title. Maybe a topic
heading like "Basics - electronics" "Basics - Formulas"
Welcome
#Post#: 3931--------------------------------------------------
Re: Informal Education for Alternate Energy
By: sut Date: July 21, 2014, 8:39 am
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I use open office (its free)
#Post#: 3934--------------------------------------------------
Online Spreadsheets / calculators
By: Cartichoke Date: July 21, 2014, 11:57 am
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There are a number of options for open source and free
spreadsheets.
I use Google Docs (and Excel if I'm wanting to do more complex
models or program in it but largely because I'm familiar with
it).
Here's a few to start with.
Spreadsheets / Calculators
General Spreadsheets
HTML https://docs.google.com/
HTML https://www.openoffice.org/
HTML http://ethercalc.net/
Electronics Calculators
HTML http://www.ohmslawcalculator.com/ohms_law_calculator.php
(EDIT: found one!)
It would seems to be a viable option to set up a series of task
specific calculators of the type you
suggest on a web-site. I'm pretty sure they could be created
quite easily in PHP. That said, they
may already exist!! I'll have a look around at the ones that
have been suggested and
see what I can find.
p.s. would mind telling me what a "tsr" calculator might be?
All I could find is "Total Shareholder Return"
calculators and I figured that probably wasn't what you were
referring too...
#Post#: 3935--------------------------------------------------
Re: Informal Education for Alternate Energy
By: nessprojects Date: July 21, 2014, 2:40 pm
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Hi Cartichoke and welcome to the forum,
I suspect what cg is talking about with tsr is Tip Speed Ratio
which is regarding turbine speed.
#Post#: 4038--------------------------------------------------
An Open Courses in Electronics
By: Cartichoke Date: August 2, 2014, 1:46 pm
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I thought I better put aside my lurking status and provide a
little content myself. :)
I've been searching for slightly more formal curriculum
delivered in an informal,
self paced manner. The persistent question for me is always "is
this legit?", particularly
as many of us don't have enough knowledge to make a judgement.
MIT Open Courses
Here's an open course (free if you don't want any credit)
offered by MIT. It appears to
be more suitable to someone with strongish science / math
background but as it's free and
self paced, you should be able to make that judgement for
yourself.
HTML https://6002x.mitx.mit.edu/courseware/
If anyone has taken any of MITs open courses, would you care to
comment generally on how well
this works?
Penguin Tutor
The second offering I found is even less formal. Not really a
courses but kind if an online, interactive
textbook. Again, my examination has been not much more than
cursory but it bears the stamp (to
my mind at least) of competence.
HTML http://www.penguintutor.com/electronics/index
Edx Open Courses
Finally, this open univ organization offers a course in Solar
energy and what appears to be basic system
design. The course starts September 1st - and again, is free (at
least I'm pretty sure it is).
Cheers!
p.s. I realized that I may be implying that I have some basis
for making a judgement on the legitimacy of
these courses / sites. I don't really! I only have a sense from
looking them over that they seem to be
comprehensive in scope rather than particular and there appears
to be some level of navigable organization
to the curriculum. If you have any sense of their legitimacy,
I'd love to hear it!
#Post#: 4045--------------------------------------------------
Re: Informal Education for Alternate Energy
By: lynx wind Date: August 4, 2014, 10:48 am
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The only areas in this science of wind turbines I don't find
legit is in the aerodynamic explanations and theory and how it
is applied to VAWTs. It is pretty well understood in the area
of HAWTs.
What is fun about VAWTs is that the field is new and
undiscovered. It amazes me that wrong theories of how wings
work is still being widely taught. It is another case of
science failing to continue asking questions.
There are several areas of science where the public simply
accept extremely flawed and fraudulent theories as fact. No
evidence, no data, not even in keeping with basic laws. It is
shameful that so many academics are bought off or agenda driven
and ignore obvious theoretical flaws. Science should ask
questions, not preach dogma. It is as if Science has become a
secular religion based on beliefs. Sort of like the Church of
the new dark ages.
#Post#: 4052--------------------------------------------------
Dogma and Agenda... might be a good name for a science comic str
ip
By: Cartichoke Date: August 4, 2014, 9:36 pm
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Heh
Academia is oddly conservative (the members of that community
are after all only human) but I have faith in the dogged
persistence of scientists of all ilks - regardless of their
pedigree. It is their method after all that eventually allows
them to prevail - and these days the internet helps.
As the fossil fuel industries decline, the markets for
alternative energy will only increase and the research will
follow the money (a sad bit of humanity but meh, we work with
what we have).
For now, I'm just thrilled to have the chance to "observe"
people like yourselves as you explore on the frontiers. VAWTs or
HAWTs (and I bet I spelled that wrong - now I have another idea
to chase down!)
So thanks! Don't be disheartened or lose faith in the "science".
We the "lurkers" are myriad and we appreciate your efforts more
than you'll ever know.
Cheers guys!
#Post#: 4072--------------------------------------------------
Watts, Ohms, Amps and Volts Explained (article)
By: Cartichoke Date: August 6, 2014, 12:24 pm
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Personally, one of my greatest barriers to understanding
anything to do with electricity has been a lack of understanding
about some of the fundamental concepts. There is no lack of
descriptions and definitions on the net but with very few
exceptions they seem to be like greased pigs - you seem to have
a grasp of something solid in your hands but before you know it,
it slips away... squealing (and yes, as a child I actually
chased a greased pig in a rodeo).
A good explanation of Watts, Ohms, Amps and Volts
HTML http://amasci.com/elect/vwatt1.html
For some reason, this article seemed to resonate well with me.
It was succinct and yet still made use of some simple metaphors
that gave me a mental foothold.
Now I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop and for someone
to tell me that this explanation is quackery. Let's hope that's
not the case. Because of course they never tell the city kids
that you can't actually take the greased pig home if you catch
it. I think I'll have trouble letting this one go if it turns
out to be false.
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