Inside the house the Gateway unit collects data off the MTU and stores it. The MTU and the Gateway communicate over the electric power line. The trick here is to find a low “noise” electric circuit for the MTU and Gateway to talk to each other. We spent a fair amount of time going through the house looking for an outlet that enabled the Gateway to receive readings from the MTU. Unfortunately the outlet that did work was some distance from my Internet router so right now it is not Internet accessible.

The third key component is the wireless display. This unit takes the readings from the Gateway and displays realtime readings of watts being used. This afternoon, while we were doing the installation, we had the dryer going and you could see the watts jump to 6000 for the period that it is on.

The display also shows the estimated amount you are paying for depending on your usage. The average cost per kW-hour was set during installation at $.30. So like filling up your gas tank, you can tell how much you are paying based on your usage. You can watch your costs increase as the water heater, microwave, drier or any appliance gets turned on or goes off. You can even watch the display change as you turn on a light or a fan.

Of course this is the whole point of the Hawaii Energy Study, to get us to understand what our energy usage is like. The idea is if we can do small changes, like using CFLs, minimize use of air conditioners or getting a timer for the water heater we can cut down on our electricity usage. This meter is a direct display of that usage.

In the meantime, I am going to see if I can attach a wifi dongle to the Gateway to see if I can get my Air Port to access it. Then over the course of the study period graph my usage patterns. It’s the beginning of the quantified home. Exciting times!

This program opens the floodgates for every homeowner who wants to switch to solar. Thanks to SunRun, Hawaii will reduce its dependence on fossil fuels while taking control of its power bills. Additionally, Sunetric will be able to grow its team and stimulate much-needed job growth in the Islands.

In researching this announcement. I found this video of Lynn Jurich, President and co-founder of SunRun speaking on a panel at the Scientific American Rountable: Meet the Future. In section 7, Lynn describes the challenge of solar power adoption and SunRun’s solution. It is an informative overview of what they have in mind for homeowners in Hawaii. If you find this interesting and want to find out more, tune in on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 5:00pm to Bytemarks Cafe on 89.3FM KIPO – Hawaii Public Radio. We will have Lynn Jurich on the show by phone. Joining her in the studio will be Mark Duda of RevoluSun and Alex Tiller from Sunetric. If you have any questions on how this “Power Purchase Agreement” works this will be a perfect time to call in  (808) 941-3689.

Ethanol Fuel for Hawaii State Policy, Incentives, and Mandate –

That may still be a ways off. Hybrids extend the life of gasoline as a portable fuel source. Cars like the Toyota Prius recharge their batteries through regenerative braking and the gasoline engine. They never need to be plugged in. The major auto manufacturers have put so much development into the gasoline powered car it will be some time before they transition completely away from that fuel source. Honda has hinted about a 100% electric vehicle (EV) to be available in 2015. So perhaps by mid-decade we will start to see a sea change of EV automobiles on road.

Nevertheless, this charging station at GEO is a significant first step in the right direction. Hats off to the pioneers like Mike Leone and Frank Rogers who are bold enough to make their vision real.

Paul Zorner was our third speaker for the Wayfinder Lecture series held tonight at Hawaii Public Radio, Atherton studio. He spoke about how Hawaii’s dependence on fuel and food from out of state sources is something we cannot sustain. At some point those external producers of both fuel and food will realize they need it to service their own people. The question is when that last barrel of oil comes to Hawaii will it be because we are self sufficient or will it be because it is needed elsewhere? How prepared will Hawaii be at that point. Most places on the US Continent have other sources of energy to tap; hydro, nuclear, solar, wind, etc. Ninety percent of Hawaii’s energy needs are from external sources. Even if we had electric cars, we would still be burning oil to power our electric plants. Zorner’s company Hawaii BioEnergy may have a solution.

This is the third and last lecture in this Wayfinder series. It started with Nainoa Thompson in July, James Koshiba in August and finally with Paul Zorner. Many people asked me when will the next lecture be. We are looking at Summer 2010. We gotten a lot of positive response from attendees but always welcome your feedback. You may post your comments here and I can share them with the station. Finally, after three tries I got the webcast working. With Nainoa I have video of his talk which I need to compress and post. During James Koshiba’s talk I lost Internet access but I do have audio which I will also post. You can watch Paul’s talk in it’s entirety via Ustream.tv. Stay tune as I work through my content backlog.

The Pure Energy Systems website also featured a section on How the Humdinger Windbelt works. The inventor, Shawn Frayne helped to explain the background and operation of the Windbelt. Partner, Jerry Chun provided me with this micro-windbelt-executive-summary (.pdf) for the Micro Windbelt that you might find interesting. Thanks for all the feedback and comments. I hope this was helpful. It certainly made for an engaging show topic.