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Add your voice, ideas and thoughts to the development of the Solar Village News feed - email: john.wilson@thesolarvillage.com with your contribution ideas.


Sun Rise:Your Complete Guide to Sustainable Living

Jan 22, 2018

Check out the Open iPub version of Sun Rise. This book explains in simple terms, how we all can start using solar energy, wind power, breathing walls, straw bale home construction techniques, passive solar design, smart windows, green roofs, and composting - today!

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History of Solar Shingles

Jan 18, 2018

As the world accepts and implements more solar technology, it’s being seen as a design choice as well as an environmental movement.

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Hyperloop and the Future of Train Travel

Jan 17, 2018

In the last one-hundred years, transportation advancements have steamed past the railcars of the 1800s to bring us automobiles that will soon reach complete and total autonomy and passenger aircraft that can crush the sound barrier.

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Soil is the answer

Dec 4, 2017

Soil carbon sequestration is the key to solving the climate change challenge. Tony Lovell explains the reasoning behind how more green growing plants means more captured carbon dioxide -- more water -- more production -- more biodiversity -- more profit. Did you know that a 1% change in soil organic matter across just one-quarter of the World's land area could sequester 300 billion tonnes of physical CO2.

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Edit Festival - Festival of the Future

Oct 2, 2017

In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, EDIT is a 10-day immersive festival that will bring us one step closer to achieving the UNDP's Sustainable Development Goals. A $15 day pass gets you access to the speakers, exhibits, and workshops making a profound difference in the world today.

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Fresh Food Farm in Downtown Toronto

Sep 25, 2017

An indoor farm sprouts in downtown Toronto. Come on over Saturday mornings and check it out.

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Secrets for successfully growing plants, while sustaining the planet

Aug 1, 2017

The secret to successfully creating a productive vegetable garden, flower garden or balcony equivalent is the soil. Living soils are created in nature by worms...that's right, worms are one of the most important transformers of organic matter into nutrients plant need to grow and be healthy.

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Worms Transform Office Food Waste

May 5, 2017

Get rid of the word waste altogether. Just call it a resource, and figure out who can use this resource.

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Aquaponics - How to Build a System in a Hoophouse Greenhouse in Ontario Canada

Apr 26, 2016

How to build a hoop house greenhouse in Ontario Canada in order to grow food in a closed-loop aquaponics environment.

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Living Disconnected – Myth or Reality? - Further Investigations - Part 3

Apr 19, 2016

How do these results impact the research we did into the off-grid system? For people living in more rural areas, in places that the electrical grid fails to cover or charges you lots to be connected, an off-grid system is still the way to go. That said, we do not expect many other people to go off the grid, as they likely will not easily recover money on their investment. Instead, we hope that the off-grid portion of our project showed homeowners the potential of solar panels - who knew you could power your home only using the sun? - but now we justified the financial aspect of installing them, through joining the FIT program or selling the excess power to the grid.

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Living Disconnected – Myth or Reality? - Part 2

Apr 19, 2016

Factors that need to be reviewed with looking to disconnect include: Electricity Needs, Sunlight Received Seasonally, Solar Panel Selection, Roof Space Available For Solar Panels, Solar Panel Production, Battery Selection, Inverter, Backup Generator, Installation Costs, Costs and Investment Return.

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Living Disconnected – Myth or Reality? - Part 1

Apr 19, 2016

Imagine living disconnected. You would reject electricity produced from the dirty power plants and instead produce your own power in a clean and renewable way. You would stop being vulnerable to electrical grid failures and rising electrical bills. To be disconnected would mean to be a part of the renewable revolution. But is that possible?

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A NEW KIND OF POWER Clean. Smart. Independent.

Apr 5, 2016

Take your most important devices off the grid. Help the environment while giving yourself energy security, even in times of power outages. Access the benefits of energy storage and renewable power in a way that works for you, made affordable and simple to use.

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1966 VW Bus Goes Solar Electric

Apr 5, 2015

Daniel Theobold explains how he converted a 1966 VW bus from gasoline to electric. At the same time he added a big solar array to the roof so that the sun can charge the batteries.

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Aquaponics

Oct 6, 2014

Learn the basic concepts of aquaponics from Alec Wheeler who has built his own hobby system.

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PowerBarr Solar Phone Charge System

Dec 4, 2013

PowerBarr enables the use of renewable, decentralized solar energy to power your devices. A funding campaign was launched to raise funds to build units for public FREE use.

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Germany Nearing 40% Renewable Energy

Aug 8, 2013

Germany gets about the same amount of sun as Alaska. And yet, they have, over the past twenty years transformed their energy system away from coal and nuclear, and towards 100% renewable energy. This in one of the strongest industrial export economies in the world.

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Role of the Individual in Transforming Energy Systems

Aug 2, 2013

Tom will talk about Bullfrog's experience in changing energy systems, and then engage the audience in thinking up new ways to motivate people to conserve energy.

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Oil, Coal and Gas Companies are an ECONOMIC TIME BOMB

Jul 24, 2013

As carbon from oil, coal and gas continues to fill our atmosphere, the temperature is rising and the arctic is melting. No scientists dispute this. Oil, coal and gas companies are looking at investing as the arctic opens up, drilling becomes easier and shipping becomes possible. Unfortunately the science also says that the down side for most of humanity is that it comes in the shape of an "ECONOMIC TIME BOMB".

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Grid Parity - Time to Buy Solar

Jul 23, 2013

Solar is approaching grid parity (that point when it will cost less than conventional utility grid provided energy) and may be expected to be cheaper shortly afterwards. At this point you are truly crazy not to invest in solar.

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Hope for a Change: Renewable Energy Part One

Jun 18, 2013

Part One - Learn how easy it would be for any country to become 100% powered by renewable energy.

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Hope for a Change: Renewable Energy Part Two

Jun 18, 2013

Part Two - Learn how easy it would be for any country to become 100% powered by renewable energy.

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Death of the Fossil Fuel Industry

May 24, 2013

Bill Mckibben spells it out really clearly in a Rolling Stone article, we the people are in a fight against a small group of very powerful and wealthy fossil fuel corporations.

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Proof Canada could be 100% powered by renewable energy

Apr 29, 2013

The growth in wind energy since 2003 in the United States provides clear evidence for what Canada might have achieved during the same period, or could over the coming decade if we were smart. For a measly $120 billion, or say about $10 billion a year for the next ten years, we could, in Canada be powered 100% by renewable energy, earning strong and sustained profits for more than twenty years.

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Permaculture Solar House for Heating and Cooling

Apr 18, 2013

Free energy is hard to come by these days. Taking advantage of it makes a whole lot of sense as a way to save money, create more comfort, and preserve the planet for our children.

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Oil, gas, coal, and nuclear industries are NOT really profitable

Apr 18, 2013

"None of the world's top industrial sectors would be profitable if they were paying their full freight. None!" according to a UN sponsored report, says David Roberts on Grist.

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Charge Up Your Phone with Solar

Apr 10, 2013

Solar charge your phone or tablet for free at your local coffee shop. Today PowerBarr annouced a feedback, support and funding event. You are invited to Evergreen Brick Works to try out PowerBarr Beta with a free solar charge for your phone or tablet on April 15th at 7pm. This is a fund raising event with a goal of $5,000 to help build the next generation of PowerBarr and extend the network of charging locations.

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Introduction to Permaculture

Mar 18, 2013

As the number of stories in the news that portend doom and gloom increases, it makes more and more sense to dig into some of the ways more and more people are fighting back. Permaculture has much to teach us about how to live a better life.

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Binga Zimbabwe Eco-Village in the Making

Mar 12, 2013

Help the people of Binga create new self-sufficient sustainable buildings as a part of a new Eco-Village.

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Winning the Renewable Revolution Against All Odds

Feb 22, 2013

Germany has the strongest economy in Europe with large scale industrial production that leads the world. At the same time this, the most advanced industrial power in the world, is operating increasingly on renewable energy.

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RENEWABLE ENERGY NOW CHEAPER THAN NEW FOSSIL FUELS

Feb 11, 2013

Research shows that as of 2011 renewable energy is cheaper than gas or coal in Australia. Undoubtedly the gas and coal companies will be trying to prevent this type of research from becoming known for other regions like Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Africa. More than likely it is already true or soon will be.

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Crowdsourcing Solar

Feb 6, 2013

Solar makes economic sense despite the lack of a carbon/pollution tax and despite the trillions of dollars in subsidies that have been given to oil, coal, gas, nuclear and transportation over the last fifty plus years. Yet, despite oil, coal, gas, nuclear and transportation industries passing on the true costs to tax payers like you and me for the past fifty years, solar power still makes economic sense in competition with and against the perpetrators of the greatest crimes against humanity, that results from the use of fossil and nuclear energy.

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Straw Bale Home in Haiti

Jan 20, 2013

Builders without Borders to build a prototype straw bale home, the first ever in Haiti.

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Solar Electric Vehicle Hitting the Streets

Jan 17, 2013

Imagine a world filled with solar powered vehicles. Smell the fresh clean air. Listen to the quiet hum of electric motors.

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Bullfrog Power and SolarShare partner to bring more clean, renewable energy to the Ontario grid

Dec 12, 2012

Leading green power provider provides financing to accelerate solar energy project development in Ontario Canada.

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Solar Thermal Upgrade: Heating and Hot Water

Nov 24, 2012

Think all solar thermal systems are the same. Think again. Imagine using a solar thermal hot water heating system for both your domestic hot water AND your heating. What is especially cool about this option is that radiant hot water heating systems can operate at lower temperatures than domestic hot water, allowing the system to have an impact in a wider variety of weather conditions.

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How Germany is Getting to 100 Percent Renewable Energy

Nov 17, 2012

By design Germany will be producing 80% of the countries energy from renewable sources by 2050. Already 25% of its power comes from renewable energy sources including solar, wind and biomas.

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Scotland on Target for 100% Renewable Energy by 2020

Nov 17, 2012

Check out the people of Scotland and their plan to get to 100% renewable energy by 2020. They've already made it to 35% renewables as of 2011.

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Our Colorado Off-The-Grid Solar Home

Nov 14, 2012

This modern off-the-grid solar home in the Colorado Rockies demonstrates the beauty and elegance of intelligent design that combines efficiency with renewable energy systems to create a comfortable and inexpensive lifestyle.

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Solar Supercharger for Electric Cars

Oct 16, 2012

Cruising down the coast of California would be a good experience in an electric car. How might that work you might ask if the maximum distance your electric car can go on a charge is 300 miles for the Tesla Model S pure electric car? Also, what good would it do if the pollution was simply shifted from the tailpipe to coal or gas plants?

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