Wyatt Sanders, A Young Inventor With A Bright Idea
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/Other/wyatt-sanders-solar-energy/i-7XkmGzZ/0/O/solarenergybanner.jpg)
Wyatt Sanders is cofounder of Jaxhax the Jacksonville Makerspace. He works as an electrical engineering intern, and is an engineering student at UNF. He is also the young inventor of the Solar Shutters and several other patent pending solar devices, he is CEO of Insite Renewable Energy, LLC. Heââ,¬â,,¢ll be presenting his solar panels this April the 17th-21st at One Spark in the SunTrust building. Join us after the jump for an explanation of his solar power devices after the jump!
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-mar-wyatt-sanders-a-young-inventor-with-a-bright-idea
Good stuff. I love it.
I believe that Wyatt was a recent presenter at CoWork Jax fast pitch that allows people to showcase their talent and ideas.
After attending the 4 hour 3/28/13 new DIA joint subcommittee meeting on the Environment and Redevelopment that was chaired by Board members Jim Bailey and Melody Bishop respectively and a reminder during the Public Comment portion of the Environment subcommittee meeting by Don Redman Dist. 4 Jacksonville city council representative for Downtown that he is itching to move the legislation forward to rip out the tables and chairs to Hemming Plaza. Wyatt, I believe that this city needs some solar panel Insite immediately.
Who is the new guy at JEA? There is no new guy. Unlike the school board or JTA.
So back to our new Authority. And let's have a little fun with this acronym. DIA - Downtown Includes Alcohol. Terry, sorry I couldn't make it to that Happy Hour Announcement that you made at the end of the meeting that had Tony A my new river buddy running out the door but I think I'll hold off for the next Intuition Ale kegger and we all know that will be coming too.
Wyatt, Have you approached JEA? What has been the feedback? What do you think of Clay Electric? Clay or JEA which one is easier to work with or FPL. Thoughts on the recent implementation of solar panels on a Neptune Beach city building.
But back to the JEA owned Southside geography (The geography is for DIA board member Barakat lol) location that is within the boundary of our new DIA - Downtown Investment Authority and the current JEA poles that are dotting that flex space. After their event could you attach or would you want to and with the position of these JEA poles create the potential for a visual billboard if you will that could be seen from above. Let's remember that the plan going forward is an expanded Entertainment District on both sides of the river. JEA and DIA two separate authorities.
Wyatt, Wish you all the best and look forward to following this exciting energy option.
Interesting stuff.
Its a good application of solar tech in a regular setting. Fortunately (hopefully) the upfront capital to get solar shutters is not too steep.
Solar is not the total answer, its just a niche response to energy sourcing today.
Until the recent breakthrough on solar using nanowires,
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130118064735.htm (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130118064735.htm)
traditional photovoltaics are just too inefficient (nanowires are 7 times more efficient)
It takes up to 15 years to get a payback on silicon panels today when compared to mass generation. And while people tout the "non-polluting" form photovoltaics have in energy generation, it is easy to forget how much pollution was created getting them made in the first place.
I’ve always used solar when practical, such as on remote gate operators. I also used panels to operate a cell phone security system on a remote building which had no power.
Mr. Sander's interesting idea is one which, although operating via a valid principle, must proceed through a cost/benefit analysis to determine if the costs of manufacture and marketing, along with any negatives of its actual use, exceeds all the combined benefits of it. Even if the idea is not currently practical and marketable because of an unsatisfactory cost/benefit ratio, time will improve the ratio both via more efficient panels and increased cost of power produced by fossil fuels, and thus at some point a viable market for the idea will have arrived.
In any case, it seems to be one of those ideas that merits forging ahead until something causes the realization that it is not a practical or marketable thing to do.
Roof-mounted solar panels on residential homes is definitely the future of renewable energy as it is really the only feasible solution unless nuclear power somehow does become popular again, hopefully due to some of the cleaner and safer options being discussed.
Sadly, aside from the fact that we live in a society that wastes an astronomical amount of power, we live in a society that needs almost instant gratification for any type of upgrade like this to pay for itself. It would be great if new construction could be forced into creating some kind of solar footprint on new buildings, but you know...... socialism and all that. The Solyndra fiasco hasn't helped that either.
I've always wondered how RAP would react if homes in their area started adding roof-mounted solar panels. It doesn't make much sense considering the tree cover surrounding most houses, but I think it would be a humorous dialog for sure.
@Noone I've talked to JEA, haven't yet reached out to FPL or Clay yet. I'm learning a lot about utilities as I'm doing this. After talking to JEA and CoJ's office of building inspection, we came to the conclusion that my solar panels would not require any permitting or contracting for their use so long as I meet JEA's requirement for a PV disconnect, this would be a game changer in the solar industry. Residents in Green cove springs may also be interested in Solar Shutters as they have higher than average prices per Kwh. I did present at fast pitch, I got the video on my website's blog.
@spuwho Comparatively since you may not need permitting and contracting to install a solar shutter, people can buy and install one and add more instead of investing a lump sum into commissioning a solar installation. You're correct solar is not the total answer, which is why I started Insite Renewables as a company to make multiple devices that capture the spectrum of energy sources available to us at home. There have been tons of 'breakthroughs" with nanowires and organic PV though they still lack a lot before they could be successfully commercialized.
@Josh After chernobyl, three mile island, fukushima, and the risks of nuclear proliferation from the use of nuclear power, there has been little money or investment put into commissioning another nuclear plant in the US because of the liability involved. France has long been the leader of research into nuclear power, the country is powered by almost 90% nuclear and it has stated as of late that it was going to reduce it's investment in nuclear research and work towards switching to renewables. There are actually new standards being put in place in the US to recognize the watts per sq.ft. in a building like mpg in a car. ASHRAE will be releasing tighter standards on energy use soon. Some places in california require the installation of renewables on new construction.
If anyone has anymore questions feel free to post a comment on the Insite Renewables' website.
www.insiterenewables.com
^ The regulation of watts-per-sq ft in a building has been around for quite a few years. Florida is only a step or two behind California's Title 24 which is the most restrictive in the country. If you want to know what the future of this country's energy code looks like, just read through Title 24.
http://www.energy.ca.gov/title24/
With the coming revision of Florida's Energy Code (ASHRAE 90.1), we will be seeing MUCH more restrictions on energy consumption within a building. In the next few years you will notice that almost all new lighting systems will be primarily LED because these new requirements can't be met using tradtional HID and fluorescent systems. The LED technology is rapidly advancing and the price continues to drop. There are also coming enhancements in the control of these lighting systems that will require a centralized control system, or occupancy/vacancy sensors in almost every space to limit the amount of time the lighting is on. And because most LED fixtures are inherently dimmable, will will see a lot more daylight harvesting systems that recognized the amount of sunlight in a space and throttle back the amount of lighting used to adequately lite a space.
Couple all that with increased thermal envelope requirements, HVAC system effeciency increases, etc and we should see buildings that are much more likely to be close to net zero with the addition of solar power arrays on the building. IMO, centralized solar systems are way to cumbersome and ineffecient. The focus should be point-of-use systems (solar panels on everyone's roofs) that are used to offset the power typically consumed. That would allow for much smaller (or many less) polluting power plants.
Wyatt, your product appears to be yet another way for us to move forward with the production of point-of-use power generation. Imagine every home with a solar array on the roof and solar shades on many of the windows. I think you're onto something. :)