Solar Power Heating and Energy System

This is a solar power heating and energy system thats employs photo voltaic panels, hydrogen fuel cell technology and automobile rear window defogger technology. Photo voltaic panels are built into or placed on the roof. Energy generated during the day is used to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen by electrolosis. Hydrogen and oxygen is recombined at night and during cloudy periods with a fuel cell to produce electricity. Automobile rear window technology is used to clear snow from panels during the winter. Hot water is produced where it is needed by electricity instead of storing it in a tank. This also reduces the amount of plumbing needed.

The heaters above could also be used to preheat conventional furnaces or some other heat source. This approach could be used to get people to buy the panels and system while improvements are made to the electronics.

Part of the problem with solar panels is they won't work with snow covering them. My idea is to apply the automobile rear window defogger to a solar panel to melt snow. Rear window defoggers use electricity to melt ice and snow.

Solar technology is very expensive. Photo voltaic panels produce DC voltage. It must be converted to AC using solid state electronics. This is where it gets expensive. The VCR (video cassette recorder) was the precursor to the DVD player. When it first came out in the 1970's they cost $500. It took 7 or 8 years to reduce the price by improving the manufacture of the unit and componants. This is how capitalism is supposed to work. Competition drives the price lower. Personal computers have gone the same route. So have many other things. There is no reason the electronics associated with solar energy can't do the same. Another one of my ideas accomplishes this. See below.

Two Improved PCB Processes

Introduction
These two ideas are possible replacements for the old way of manufacturing blank printed circuit boards. I sent these ideas to Intel in Santa Clara, CA in Aug 2005. (hurricane Katrina)

The old way of making blank printed circuit boards require alot of chemicals and machinery. Chemicals include acids, electroplating solutions and photoresist. The processes include photography, ultraviolet light, etching with acids, drilling holes, and electroplating. It's dirty, time consuming and inexact. Componants must be added later with different machines. Many of the chemicals are oil based. It is very labor intensive. Companies some times employ hundreds of people to inspect the boards for shorts and opens.

The top three pictures are examples. The top picture is an artwork. The artwork must be converted to a photo negative. A blank board with a thin layer of copper is then covered with photo-resist. The negative is placed on top exposed to ultra-violet light etc. The second picture is a board without the componants and the third with.

The bottom five pictures are my ideas. In one idea a cutting bit cuts the connections. Connections are passed from bottom to top by inserting and soldering wire. The other idea is to spread a conductive substance around with a computer. The advantages are many. Faster manufacturing time, less cost, fewer chemicals and more exact. R and D can be sped up.

Methane Silo

Every check that goes out the door at the end of the month is another link in the ball and chain of our system. Reducing energy costs for small businesses and small business owners would do more to help the economy than one tax cut bill for ExxonMobil. It would help to break up these big companies. It used to be that people understood that being your boss was much better than working for a big company. There is no crime in owning a small ice cream shop or shoe factory. The fact that a large factory would require a lot of these is actually a plus. It would help ensure the business stays small.

Methane Silo. Methane is a naturally occuring gas produced by the decay of organic material such as animal waste or plants. It is a fossil fuel like oil propane or butane. It can be used to produce mechanical or electrical power. It's chemical formula is CH4. One atom of carbon and 4 atoms of hydrogen. Like any gas it is best transported by pipeline or used where it is produced. Some attempts to harness methane involve laying out plant material in large sealed buildings and collecting it as the material decays. (see picture below) One problem with this is the material must be turned over every so often to help the material decay. As the material decays it gives off less and less methane. A methane silo eliminates the need to do this. A methane silo works as any silo by gravity. The material is fed into the top and comes out the bottom. The difference is a methane silo would have long tubes of screen inside the silo to help expose the material to the air to help it decay and give off methane. This eliminates the need to turn it.