Solarpunk technology

cross-posted from: https://ibbit.at/post/56217

A Meshtastic node has been one of the toys of the moment over the last year, and since they are popular with radio amateurs there’s a chance you’ll already live within range of at least one. They can typically run from a lithium-ion or li-po battery, so it’s probable that like us you’ve toyed with the idea of running one from a solar panel. It’s something we have in common with [saveitforparts], whose experiments with a range of different solar panels form the subject of a recent video.

He has three different models: one based around a commercial solar charger, another using an off-the-shelf panel, and a final one using the panel from a solar garden light. As expected the garden light panel can’t keep an ESP32 with a radio going all day, but the other two manage even in the relatively northern climes of Alaska.

As a final stunt he puts one of the nodes out on a rocky piece of the southern Alaskan coastline, for any passing hacker to find. It’s fairly obviously in a remote place, but it seems passing cruise ships will be within its range. We just know someone will take up his challenge and find it.

From Blog – Hackaday via this RSS feed

Hey there! So I'm currently studying CS & IT and I'd like to know more about how developers & computer nerds alike are reflecting the values of solarpunk into their work.

Are solarpunk values part of your thinking process when you decide which software you are going to be making (for personal projects for example), or which company you will be working at? Are they part of the production process (like which tools or technologies you're using)? How much? And, maybe in a broader sense, is hoping to work on projects aligned with solarpunk values realistic?

• With Bangladesh’s growing economy and city dwellers’ purchasing capacity, the tendency to gather for parties and serve food has also increased in the country.
• With concerns for environmental protections, many of them are choosing biodegradable tableware instead of single-use plastic.
• A few local entrepreneurs are now producing tableware like plates and straws from biodegradable and locally available materials like areca leaves for plates and rice bran and jute for straws.
• However, entrepreneurs are struggling with production costs and are looking forward to the policy support that industries producing environment-friendly products usually receive in Bangladesh.

archived (Wayback Machine)

• Recently, Bangladesh successfully developed lotus silk — a biodegradable luxury fabric — using lotus stems, merging ancient tradition with modern sustainability science.
• Unlike conventional textiles, lotus silk is produced without water, chemicals or fossil fuels — making it one of the most eco-friendly fabrics in the world today.
• With high prices, lotus silk is attracting top fashion houses internationally, giving Bangladesh an opportunity to gain a premium place in the ethical fashion market.
• In some villages, lotus silk is creating new jobs for women who are now skilled in producing this high-value, global product; it’s reviving Bangladesh’s artisanal legacy.

archived (Wayback Machine)

I am looking for a small solar panel setup, ideally to be connected to the grid and reduce electricity bill. I have heard of the Ecoflow system but I would like to know if there are alternatives out there.

If anyone has experience and can recommend any products, please comment :)

While it may be 3d-printed, this device isn't quite in the realm of DIY yet thanks to needing some kinda-exotic metal oxide framework (MOF) materials.

Cory Doctorow is rightfully enraged:

This is all downside. If Google complies with the order, it will constitute a privacy breach on a scale never before seen. If they don't comply with the order, it will starve competitors of the one tiny drop of hope that Judge Mehta squeezed out of his pen. It's a catastrophe. An utter, total catastrophe. It has zero redeeming qualities. Hope you like enshittification, folks, because Judge Mehta just handed Google an eternal licence to enshittify the entire fucking internet.

And a much longer interview with Wang on technopolitics, grand opera, China's "industrial party", and why the Chinese and Americans are the two most alike people in the world, here. It's a great listen.

Since this video is an hour long, the result of digging a small bore hole and routing water pipes through, and hooking those up to a slightly modified window AC unit resulted in a 250 to 300% increase in overall cooling efficiency, and effectively turns a 5000btu air conditioner into a 15000btu unit, but with less power draw than an unmodified (control) 5000btu unit.

Chinese producers of polysilicon, a building block for solar panels, are in talks to create a 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) fund to acquire and shut down roughly a third of production capacity and restructure part of the loss-making sector, GCL Technology Holdings said.

The top polysilicon producer told Reuters on Thursday plans were being discussed to acquire and shut at least 1 million metric tons of lower-quality polysilicon capacity.

"It is sort of like the OPEC of the polysilicon industry, wherein total supply for a specified timeframe has to be agreed by the central committee and production quotas to be allocated to producers," GCL's investor relations director Jun Zhu said.

The plan is one of the strongest signals yet that the heightened rhetoric against overcapacity rolled out by the Chinese government this month is translating into action. Chinese industries, from solar to electric vehicles, are grappling with massive overcapacity and vicious price wars that are wiping out profits.

[...]

Compass is an opensource handheld CNC router that you can build from a kit for less than a third the price of industry equivalent, the shaper origin. While this may not be directly solar punk I think the fact that is opensource makes it related. Also, it can enable people to build structures and furniture more easily with plans shared online. I envision making beautiful benches for bus stops and community gardens around my city.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/33224011

The guys at Flow Battery Research Collective have been designing a Redox Flow Battery development kit that you can build yourself using a 3d printer and a few tools. It's a desktop size flow battery that you can use to either do your own research, e.g. on different electrolytes or just to replicate their experimental findings.

Redox Flow Batteries have the potential to become grid scale or home electric energy storage solutions that are way better for the environment than current lithium based batteries. They can often scale power and capacity independently and allow for repairs.

The FBRC project wants to spread the knowledge on RFBs and help kickstart a global community that develops sustainable energy storage technology in an ope source fashion.

Beware that the project is still in its infancy and sourcing the materials can be a bit of a challenge. Be sure to ask around in the forums for help!

This is a cool form of reuse, but there's got to be cleaner ways to do it.