SunWind Solar - Car Kits & Energy Education

Finally bringing together all of my old files over the years, for a final collating of important notes versus doodles, and came across a thin dusty file call “Automata”.
In it an advertisement for the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre, 1994. “Making automata is hard. It requires a very wide range of construction skills and an understanding of mechanical and engineering principles. This can be very frustrating for the beginner...

To track the Sun and record its passage was another project that seemed worthwhile.
It is tricky for children, or anyone for that matter, to perceive that it is our planet that is moving relative to the Sun, rather than the Sun moving relative to the Earth. Our language is riddled with this false understanding of Earth-centrism. And...

Have had an enjoyable summer, playing with various kits we have in prototype, and working on several projects at once.
25-watt solar panel with 12-volt pump in barrel
One of the most interesting to me was employing solar water-pumping in our garden.

Solar insolation curve  (click to enlarge)
The concept of solar energy can be abstract. We might know that it is electromagnetic radiation from the Sun, but  “WHERE on the electromagnetic spectrum is it?… and “HOW MUCH is there?”
Knowing where and how much gives a person the power of their solar energy inheritance....