Articles written by Greg Whiting
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Save big with passive technologies
Reducing energy use during the design and construction phase of a new building is almost always easier than retrofitting the building afterwards. There are many techniques that can be used to reduce t...
Comparing costs to heat hot water
Adding up electricity, gas and propane, most (probably half to two-thirds) of the energy you use in your house is for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. One of the most significant other uses...
Solar installation costs will keep on dropping
The Skagit Valley Clean Energy Alliance will be sponsoring a new Solarize program this year, to help facilitate and accelerate the installation of new rooftop solar generation systems throughout...
La Conner could shine with art-themed energy infrastructure
Viewing parts of the electric grid, such as transmission towers and substations as public art is actually a decades old concept. The colored glass used in high-rise buildings since the early 1960s...
Infrastructure need not be brutish: Let a thousand solar panels bloom
One of the least publicized but nevertheless significant obstacles to the new infrastructure required to support development of new energy resources is that this infrastructure can be unsightly. A...
Will La Conner embrace e-buses?
The La Conner School District is among hundreds of districts nationwide examining the feasibility and long-term cost advantages of switching from diesel to electric school buses. Key advantages...
New knowledge advances science
In 1992, two colleagues and I visited Ukraine and Russia to tour ex-Soviet research laboratories in search of interesting technologies that had been developed by their scientists and engineers. The co...
The future of readily available alternative energies is almost here
I wrote earlier that existing technologies aren’t that far from allowing us to produce sustainable energy for as little as a tenth of the cost of conventional electric generation. Solar...
Holiday lights evolution from candles offer an even brighter future
Holiday lights abound. As Ray Stevens said about Santa Claus, they’re everywhere! They’re everywhere! They’re all over La Conner’s homes, streetlight posts and various public spaces. The big Christmas tree in Gilkey Square dominates the...
Alternative energy growth will bring job growth as economy grows
In the 1880s, thousands of businesses in the U.S. depended on horse-drawn transportation. Carriage manufacturers, blacksmiths, horse breeders, stables and related enterprises were major employers. Of...
Portable public solar power's future
The ongoing emergence of low-cost energy technologies is leading to the development of a host of interesting systems that aren’t directly related to the large-scale electric grid. Read this asking y...
Part 3 on creating EV charging infrastructure in La Conner
The need for electric vehicle charging infrastructure will inevitably increase. People who don’t want EVs now because their initial cost is too high or their range is too low will re-evaluate that...
High power EV chargers needed to keep keep tourists coming
Last week I talked about electric vehicle chargers in rural British Columbia. Charger availability there is still improving. Flo.com’s map shows that the charger in Woss, BC (population about 200),...
Tourist towns need EV charging stations to keep visitors coming
About a year ago, Jenelle and I drove from Victoria, on the south end of Vancouver Island, to Port Hardy, near the north end. We took a gasoline-powered car. We weren’t sure whether public charging...
Don't let vampire and phantom electric loads suck your power out of your house
Pumpkin spice lattes, football, leaves starting to change color, the approach of Halloween … it’s time to talk about vampires and phantoms. Vampire and phantom electric loads, that is. Many...
E-bikes just the option for local commutes
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the possibility of buying a second electric car. I’m still giving that some consideration. However, before making a final decision, I’m going to wait till the...
Energy planning grants awarded to schools and fire department
The La Conner School District and the La Conner Fire Department have each been awarded a grant from the Washington state Department of Commerce. These grants will fund work required for each to...
Energy Star is efficiency seal of approval
Last time, I suggested buying Energy Star electronics to cut your energy bills. What is Energy Star and why is their work relevant? Energy Star is a voluntary program started by the U.S. Environmental...
EV costs are predictable; that cannot be said about gas powered vehicles
A typical home in western Washington uses about 10,800 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year. If you add in an electric car, that will increase to about 14,400 kWh. Solar panels in western...
Smart electric meters offer way to cut costs
Electricity and natural gas are very unusual products. The end-use customers, homeowners, use these products without knowing how much they’ve used, or how much the products will cost, till they get...
Utilities are using lithium-ion batteries to bridge power gaps
Lithium-ion batteries have long been in the news because of their role in electric vehicles, but uses for this technology are expanding to the utility industry. Batteries that can be charged and...
Rechargeable batteries keep getting cheaper
When I started working on lithium-ion batteries, in 1993, Sony and Toshiba had introduced the first such commercially available batteries a couple of years earlier. They were mostly used in “the 4...
Would you like to be paid to heat your water?
New solar and wind electric generators are being installed at increasing rates because their costs are declining and utilities are getting better at integrating intermittent generation into their...
Do the math: Buying a new EV will cost less over time than maintaining your old car
About a month ago, I had to take my gasoline car into the dealer for routine maintenance. That cost about $2,000, and it needs more work. My car has been driven about 100,000 miles. It probably has...
Off-the-grid living is possible – and affordable – electricity-wise
Given national and international news, you may be thinking that it would be great to build a self-sufficient cabin in remote northeastern Washington. My grandfather did that, about 120 years ago....