Jacobsen Greens King Mower - Add Power to Older Engines

Small engine vehicles have been revitalized and revamped over the last several years. Golf carts and hauling vehicles once innovative in the 1980s were still able to be improved upon in the areas of design, steering mechanism, vehicle weight and basic functionality. Mowers, however, have remained constant in their design and mechanics for quite some time. The single biggest area of improvement for golf course and large area mowers is in the engine. Recent small engine mechanics innovation has allowed designers to create more powerful, easier to maintain, and more efficient engines for these pieces of equipment. Though older model mowers may have quality engines that are still getting the job done, many landscapers or greens keepers may find that the engine does not provide the power or efficiency that a newer vehicle could. Buying a new mower in order to get the power of a modern small engine is not necessary if you consider repowering the vehicle instead.

What Is Repowering?
Repowering a small engine refers to installing a newer rebuilt engine into an existing vehicle in order to improve its performance and save on buying a brand new vehicle or motor. By repowering, a landscapers or golf course maintenance crew gets more than just swapping out an old engine for the same rebuilt model engine. Rather, a repower kit swaps out an old engine for a newer, better engine model built with the latest technology. Repowering results in a better small engine in a vehicle for the fraction of the price of buying a new one.

I Already Have A Quality Engine
If you are a smart consumer, you have already bought a large mower from a reputable brand that stands by its products. So, you may wonder why you would ever want to consider repowering. Consider the Jacobsen Greens King IV. Jacobsen has an incredible reputation for being a leading turf maintenance mowers and equipment manufacturer for over 100 years. The company's Greens King IV has been one of their best selling vehicles for over a quarter of a century. These mowers, however, will last longer and perform better if their engines are updated to newer models.

The need to innovate and improve performance is well understood by Jacobsen. The company's newer model Greens King IV has a 16 or 18 horse power Briggs & Stratton Vanguard gas engines. Older models have a 14 or 16 horse power Kohler engines. Improving the engine is important to the long-term life of the mower and to achieve better performance. This is why so many are choosing to repower their landscaping mowers - to give their well-maintained older models more power and extend their life.

Jacobsen Greens King IV is a popular landscaping mower and hauling vehicle manufacturer. As such, there are a variety of repower kits available. There are Briggs & Stratton Vanguard small engines or Kohler small engine rebuild kits available, depending on what engine is currently installed in the GV IV. Diesel models are also great candidates for repower kits. Those landscapers with other mowers brands, something other than a Jacobsen, can easily find a repower kit compatible with their model too.

Where Do I Find A Repower Kit?
Small engine repower or rebuild kits are available from several certified dealers online. When looking for a kit, make sure the one you purchase comes with a warranty that you would expect from the original factory dealer. They are available. This will give you piece of mind and assurance that the quality of your machine will remain intact. After all, repowering a small engine is a step toward improving the value of your mower and extending its life.

Why Musicians and Engineers Need Sound Engineering Knowledge (Part II)

We continue from with the second part of our discussion. Make sure you read the first part to ensure a thorough understanding of this all important subject matter.

THE ELECTRONIC AGE

With the acoustic age technology firmly in place to the extent that a thriving industry had been built around it for centuries came a breakthrough in electricity and electronics. Man was contemplating easier ways of doing
everything. The age of industry had set in and energy requirements were becoming more and more complicated. The music industry was no exception.

There was the need for a louder sound which had to be managed without resorting to the building of larger instruments and larger halls. Musicians were exploring new ideas in their songs which traditional acoustic instruments were not able to support. Concert halls were larger than usual and singers were still required to sing with the same clarity, strength and stability as they did in the smaller halls. Man's use of sheer human power was reaching its limit.

The electronic age brought with it the technology music needed to expand and grow. We were now looking at microphones, megaphones, radio, amplifiers, speakers, electric guitars, electric organs that needed no paddling and the like. This brought more flexibility and style.

With all this came a new global sound which has influenced the development of music today more ever. Man moved beyond the classical and baroque to more popular forms of music which could create a sound as large as the orchestra could but with electronic support.

This in turn gave birth to a globally standard recording industry as technology explored various options of producing sheet music in an audio form rather than paper form which needed a piano player, violinist, flutist or piper.

With this, those who previously did not have the chance to belong to the music industry could do so without having to spend a fortune buying equipment for a 46 piece orchestra and finding money to rent the plush, huge and large concert halls built for classical orchestra's. With a keyboard, electric guitar, an electric double-bass, a 3 piece drum-set, a few microphones, two speakers and an amplifier to match, all was set for performing good music.

THE DIGITAL AGE

We are now in what we refer to as the digital age, the age of precision. Information technology is driving everything. What we thought was a shrinking of larger gadgets and appliances from the acoustic age by the electronic age is seen as child's play when compared to what the digital age has brought with it.
Amplifiers that weighed so heavy that it took 2 or 3 people to carry in the electronic age, are the size of a CD case and are more powerful in output.

Today, it is possible to carry over 5000 samples of sounds for a keyboard in a small digital storage device which is shorter and smaller than your little finger. All you would do is plug it into the back of your keyboard and you can
play all those sounds at the touch of a button.

The digital age has brought more detail for music than we have ever known. The nature and character of a sound can be altered in micro units. This is because digital technology interprets sound signals as data in bits and bytes rather than in the normal electronic method of turning knobs fitted with predetermined values and units. What this means is that it is now possible to increase or decrease the values on a musical or sound engineering instrument in micro values which cannot be humanly precise or possible.

Digital technology in music today gives the musician the much needed space, support and opportunity to create any sound he desires the way he desires. In addition, the musician has more control over the sound he produces and how it is required to behave in a performance.

Summary

What is significant is that the basic principles of music and sound engineering used in the acoustic era are still in place without any significant change. It is the methods, the range of variety and opportunity that is different. Today you and I have the flexibility to do what we want to do with very little difficulty but with amazing results all because of digital technology.

In all this what has really changed and what has stayed the same? Music and the way it is processed have changed so much. Our songwriting and performance of music in my view is more predetermined than in the past because digital technology gives so much room to copy with ease what others have done already.

Having said these, it is important to note that the human factor which is crucial to originality is still in place. With the scope that digital technology offers the musician in the area of sound engineering, there is no need to just dream about a musical idea. It is now possible to bring it to life in a relatively quick, easy and cost efficient way with sound knowledge.

What Is Power Quality and Why Do I Need a Power Quality Analyzer?

The reliability and cost of any electrical system depends greatly on the quality of the power supplied to and consumed by the system. Poor power quality may result in improper function, overheating, accelerated wear and tear, falsely tripped circuit breakers and, in some cases, hazardous conditions. With the introduction of new electronic technologies over the last several decades, the world has placed new and more complex demands for clean and reliable power.

Measuring Power Quality typically involves calculating indicators of power demand, power consumption and power cleanliness. By measuring demand and consumption, consumers can identify cost centers in their electrical infrastructures as well as engineer the electrical infrastructure required to meet those demands. By measuring cleanliness, consumers are able to avoid improper function, overheating and a plethora of other consequences of unclean power.

What is power demand and how do we measure it?

Power demand is the amount of average electrical energy that is consumed over some period of time by a device, machine building, etc... Power Quality Analyzers, electronic instruments used to measure indicators of power quality, can average the electrical energy and display it in units of "kilowatts". It is important that electrical systems are supplied with enough power to meet peak periods of demand.

How does power consumption differ from power demand?

Power consumption, similar to demand, is the "sum" of electrical usage over time. Power demand reflects an instantaneous view of electrical usage, whereas, power consumption sums the electrical usage over the same period of time. Power Quality Analyzers measure consumption in units of watthours (Wh) or kilowatthours (kWh). Most calculations of the cost of power are based on consumption and measured by $ per kWh.

Once we know power consumption, we can calculate a useful metric called "Power Factor". Power Factor is a ratio of the actual power used by an electrical system to the apparent power delivered by the utility. In almost all cases, the actual power used will be less than the apparent power delivered because of heat dissipation, frictional loss, work performed and other release of energy by the electrical system.

We can use Power Factor to help us put a price tag on the amount of work the electrical system is performing, as well as help us install capacitors and other devices that store real energy to avoid being charged for excess apparent power. With a Power Quality Analyzer, you can calculate the "Reactive Compensation", the amount of capacitive value required to correct a low Power Factor.

Power cleanliness and the need to understand harmonics

Power cleanliness refers to the identifying and freeing power of "harmonics". The concept of harmonics is a bit more difficult to understand than demand and consumption. Harmonics are a result of non-linear loads that cause irregular spikes and dips in voltage and current on an electrical system.

The power provided by utility companies is delivered in the form of a constant voltage AC (Alternating Current) and takes the shape of a sine wave. Ohms law says the amount of current used by an electrical device depends on the load (inductance) of that device. If the load varies over time, so will the current. Harmonics appear when varying loads (non-linear) create short pulses of current that deform the supplied, sinusoidal current waveform, creating an arbitrary waveform.

You can think of an arbitrary wave as being made up of several fundamental waveforms. The easiest illustration of an arbitrary wave is to picture two people on opposite sides of a pool who each create a wave towards each other with a pool float. When the waves intersect in the middle, the result is a wave that is twice as tall. The resulting wave is made up of two fundamental waves.

This illustration can be used to explain that happens when harmonics occur due to non-linear loads. The current wave becomes deformed from a perfect sine wave and peaks and valleys create un-clean power. Harmonics can cause devices to overheat, electrical wire ratings to be reduced, motors to prematurely wear and circuit breakers to falsely trip.

Power Quality Analyzers have the ability to identify and analyze the fundamental harmonics that make up an arbitrary current wave. Measurements such as THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) can tell you the contribution of harmonic currents to the fundamental current required. Measured as a percentage, 10% would be a reason for concern. Another measurement called "Crest Factor" will indicate the level of peaking caused by harmonics. The Crest Factor is a ratio of the Peak Value / RMS Value, which in a perfect sine wave would be 1.414.

Choosing a Power Quality Analyzer

There are a number of different Power Quality Analyzer manufacturers such as Fluke, AEMC, Hioki and Extech. Some analyzers are designed to measure single phase systems while others are for three phase systems. Many PQAs integrate with PCs, have enhanced data logging capabilities and can produce professional reports typically requested for power quality applications. Power Quality Analyzers range in price from $1500 to $6500 with the more expensive products offering greater analysis functionality.

Advancing Wind Generation Efficiency thru Improved Technology and Re-Design

Energy is a serious topic for the Online Think Tank and of course we always work hard to consider all types of energy here. Alternative Energies such as wind generation have had a bit of good fortune lately with all the positive press and Bush Administration Alternative Energy Initiatives. Recently online think tanker Richard Walker noted that perhaps through some minor modification we might improve the energy generation of the modern day wind generator.

Thus Advancing Wind Generation efficiency through improved Technology and Re-Design. He stated;

"t would be practical to have like a piggyback windmill added on to the back opposite side of existing windmills. Either add another generator and blades right on top of the existing tower facing in the opposite direction so you wouldn't have to put up another tower, or just build another windmill right behind it. This way you can double the electricity output without taking up more land area."

Indeed we know that wind generators are often set is specific patterns in wind farms for this reason and many pivot 360 degrees in order to take advantage of the wind no matter what direction it faces. Richard Walker makes a good point on his windmill or wind generator idea. Indeed, I have had some thoughts.

My concept was to put six inch protruding cork-screw type pieces on the leading edge of the blade to cause a vortex flow increasing the efficiency and also send out a molecular aligning sound wave to thicken the air, meaning less wind, thicker air still you get better power.

Richard's concept for a piggy back generator aft a wind generator makes sense. You know a Cessna 337 Skymaster gets more thrust out of the rear engine due to the airflow and prop wash of the first. So I agree. Especially if they figured in the wave motion of the airflow at the optimums, so the rear piggy back propeller would move distance? I like that idea too very much. You could have many of them in a circle ring behind the generator.

Wind Generators make sense and renewable energy is in our future as well. I certainly hope this article is of interest and that is has propelled thought. The goal is simple; to help you in your quest to be the best in 2007. I thank you for reading my many articles on diverse subjects, which interest you.

Article Marketers and Authors Demand Higher Technology and New Tools

Marketing your website or blog with articles has become very popular because the ease of writing articles and submitting them to article directories. Many internet users have come to realize just how powerful this simple method of advertising can be. Writing and submitting articles not only bring traffic to your website or blog but they also can be used to build back-links to your website which helps increase your search engine rankings.

Along with popularity though comes new demands to accomplish many task as fast as possible and as easy as possible. With these new demands writers, authors, and article marketers expect to have a solution that is going to meet their needs. When a solution is needed then new technologies start to emerge to bring article marketing to a whole new level.

There are just a handful of article directories that are taking notice to these new demands. These article directories are are building new functions and features into their websites to accommodate not only current authors and writers, but to attract new writers and authors. Along with building new technologies some article directories are granting more exposure to the authors and writers by removing all ads from the article directory website.

Using technology many new tools are being used to make article marketing easier, more enjoyable, and more profitable. Tools such as content creation that will allow you to add html, images, video, flash, and more directly into your articles. Tools that allow the transformation of articles into pdf articles that could be used for short reports and even as full ebooks.

There are many other new tools that are being created that can help with the submission of articles and the changing of articles content. Some new tools even allow the ability to dripfeed your wordpress blog with articles putting your blog on auto-pilot. Imagine placing all your blogs on pure auto-pilot so you can have more time to do article marketing.

Many other tools exist and new tools are being created to cater to writers and authors. In the coming months there will be a wide range of brand new technology and unique tools that will advance the article marking industry even further than it has been before.

ArticleProductions blog contains many different types of unique articles on many different subject. Visit the blog today and get informed on some of the hottest topics and post your comments on our unique content.

Merits of Temporary Power, Temporary Power Distribution, and Portable Power Distribution Units

Temporary Power solutions are a boon for every sector of industry. As electricity plays a huge role in every business, electricity failure can cause heavy losses. For such situations they act as a great aid. It is a very reliable source of power and easily installed as well, though thorough professionals and skilled technicians are required for installation process. It must be properly grounded to avoid any mishaps. They are available with a full complement of load banks, fuel storage, transformers and switchgear. This suits the requirements of many customers who do not require buying one.

Temporary Power Distribution is a great way to convert one type of voltage to another. Its panels are inclusive of a power line feed, load center with breakers, transformer and outlets. Operators make use of portable substations to transfer power from a utility or generator set to voltages and outlets required to support multiple appliances. They can be customized as per necessity and can be tailor made to fit the bill of clients and customers. They are engineered and designed as per advanced technology and can sustain a harsh environment as well. It ensures safe distribution of temporary power in areas specified. It can be done indoors as well as outdoors.

Portable power distribution units are available for the convenience of users. Each unit is configured to user specifications and can be moved using crane or forklift. It can provide power for various applications. Be it construction site, mining, industrial sector or any other emergency region, they offer the most effective and convenient service to all its users. The units are specifically designed keeping in mind the convenience factor.

With world class technology and skilled professionals and technicians, Powko has grown manifolds and has reached its pinnacle with hard work and sincerity.

Powered Up and Cool, But Are You Protected?

We all are so reliant on technology that at times we take it for granted. We take for granted that it will always work when we need it, and that it is designed for resiliency and reliability. In many cases, it is not the design that gets in the way but rather outside factors that exacerbate the issue. One of the main ones, key to the operation of any advanced technology, is rooted in science over 100 years old and relatively unchanged since.

While most of us think that our old friend Ben Franklin discovered electricity with his famous kite flying, the real father of electrical power is English scientist William Gilbert. He extrapolated the writings of Thales of Miletus from around 600 BC of rubbing amber to produce a charge. Nearly 2200 years later, Gibson discussed the ability to take and conduct charges in many different substances and coined the term "electricity" from the Greek word for amber. Around the world, several different machines were built to create these charges leading to devices we still see today such as the Van De Graff generator which is used as a particle accelerator.

Electricity remained a curiosity until the Leyden jar was built in 1745 by Pieter van Musschenbroek which stored static electricity for a single, total discharge. I guess you could say it was the first battery! Many others sped the process of making power available and usable including Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta who created the forerunner of the modern battery, the voltaic pile and Michael Faraday who worked with magnets to produce a stable power generating field. Then we marveled at Thomas Edison with his DC generator and Joseph Swan who created the first incandescent light bulb. They were followed by Nikola Tesla who invented the first motor to create AC or alternating current which George Westinghouse saw immediately as the future of electric generation and bought the technology. Lastly, we cannot forget James Watt, Andre Ampere, and George Ohm whose contributions were so paramount that units of electric power were named after them!

Now that we've established where electricity came from, we bow to the knowledge that without it our modern 21st century world would stop dead in its tracks. With increased reliance on network computing, businesses large and small would be severely impacted if those systems were not available, so proper planning for power to those server rooms and data centers is beyond critical. Ironically, in many small to mid-sized organizations guaranteeing good clean power flow is almost never addressed.

To that end, proper planning and evaluation of the power consumption of IT equipment is as important as the setup and deployment of the gear itself. The first step is providing constant power in a clean, consistent wave. Without getting into the tenets of electrical engineering, keep in mind electrical power comes in "watts" which describes the flow of electricity. Electric power, also called current, travels along the wires in a wave.

This is important to the proper care of all devices that are fed by electricity. The continued shape of that wave is crucial to keeping devices running and also to their longer availability and lifecycle. What many people don't take into account is the fact that the power that comes to your door from the electric company is rarely this consistent. We are acutely aware of and worry about power outages due to the immediate nature of the threat. Power goes out, equipment shuts off. It's that simple. But it's significantly more than that.

The jarring effect of sudden power loss can and does wreak havoc with sensitive electronic gear especially complex systems like PCs, servers, and other processor-based equipment. Over time, this will lower the life expectancy of these systems. The problem is there is no way to measure just how much time you are losing. It's like avoiding your doctor's advice to stop eating fatty foods or smoking. Maybe you will continue on for years without a problem, or maybe you'll drop dead tomorrow from a heart attack.

Sudden power loss, or blackout, is not the only threat to your critical infrastructure. As I mentioned before, the flow of power is rarely consistent, and events such as brownouts and spikes are equally dangerous to equipment.Brownouts are defined as temporary reductions in power often due to over demand. When power is reduced during a brownout, lights may dim but servers and PC's cannot slow down so they strain to keep running at their previous levels. Spikes are simply a sudden event that sends a jolt of extra current through the power grid. Most often this occurs during a thunderstorm when a bolt of lightning hits a power line, but lightening doesn't have to be present for a spike to occur. Compare the sudden surge of power to a dam; if your local reservoir gets a sudden burst of water flow, it could break without the proper protections in place. The same is true for your sensitive network equipment.

We have seen what can be wrought as a result of inattention to power, so what do we do about it? Most commonly seen in the SMB marketplace are devices that mitigate the flow of electrical power called uninterrupted power supplies, or UPS. A UPS has a dual purpose, the most commonly considered is to keep power going to attached devices when a power outage hits. Yet a good UPS performs a significantly more important function, assuring a good clean power flow. When describing how events like spikes and blackouts can have serious impact on the performance and life of equipment, the consideration was there was no intermediate device between the power feed and the equipment. But a UPS, in addition to having battery back-up capability to keep power flowing, acts as a kind of filter to smooth out those fluctuations in the electric power wave. It's akin to having a flow restriction device in your shower. Regardless of the flow of water from the main, the flow of water to the shower head is delivered at a nice, constant rate.

There are also optional features in these UPS devices that can be extremely beneficial. One would be a monitoring module that can be added to the UPS structure. For example, modules can generate alerts when power is compromised, or the temperature in the room fluctuates out of the acceptable range. Alerts can be sent to email addresses and/or mobile devices, and can be recorded and logged on the network for later analysis. For small and mid-sized business that don't employ a dedicated IT person, some level of this capability is beneficial and allows alerts to be directly dealt with by the IT service provider.

UPS units are the minimal consideration in protection for a modern business network. In the small to mid-sized business with a simple server room that often also houses the company's phone system, assuring consistent and uninterrupted power is nearly all they will need. But neglecting another environmental factor could also be disastrous.

I have seen many of these "equipment rooms" as cramped closets or repurposed office spaces, and in some cases with little or no HVAC venting. Proper cooling of the space must be considered or disruption and failure will occur to these sensitive systems.

There are guidelines for the proper amount of air conditioning to keep these spaces in the recommended temperature range of between 68 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Suffice it to say if this is not adequately planned for, you may be investing in new gear much sooner. Heat can literally fry system boards and wiring or cause cooling fans to overextend and fail. Because there are so many factors to weigh, getting a consultation from a professional is highly recommended. Even if you think you are safe because you only have one server and a little firewall, if they are crammed in an old broom closet (don't laugh, I have seen this!), you are looking at the potential for a major failure.

As you ascend the ladder in server room size and the amount of equipment in it, there are more comprehensive solutions from a bevy of manufacturers such as American Power Conversion (APC), Liebert, Eaton and more. These range from rack-based solutions where the UPS and cooling are combined in a self-contained and enclosed unit, to huge blade server racks with rack-sized air handling. For the SMB space, APC has been the leader for years in solutions that fit both size and budget.

APC has several very thorough white papers including one titled "Cooling Strategies for IT Wiring Closets and Small Rooms," by Neil Rasmussen and Brian Standley that has a wealth of information. The decision on what is best for your unique needs often hinges on price and how many features can be obtained for a reasonable investment.

In my experience, it is rare to see a small or mid-sized organization that needed to go to the lengths of an enterprise organization in regard to a server room. Features like raised floors to hide all the cabling, hot and cold row design, and multiple sources of power and connectivity are generally not necessary or affordable for the SMB. That said some SMBs have opted for a cloud-based infrastructure which essentially rents out space in large datacenters. Of course this nearly renders the discussion of power and cooling moot. I say nearly because you still will have some gear on-site, like the phone system or a firewall, and it will have to be protected too.

This white paper is a simple overview of the power and cooling needs of small and mid-sized business today. As this is written, Pennsylvania is preparing to deal with the uncertainty of power costs when previously enacted rate "caps" are lifted on January 1, 2011. While shopping for the best deal is going to be a huge part of that, making sure the power is protected and stable must be considered too.

Proper planning and consultation can help mitigate the potential for crippling budget increases and equally crippling failures. Find a trusted partner that can help your overall IT strategy and allow them to manage your network so the network won't manage you! Whatever you do, leave the kite experiments to the experts. You'll find ways to make the power you need more affordable like virtualizing servers, replacing PCs with thin client workstations, or telecommuting.

An Interview With Techno-romantic Thriller Author Denise Robbins on Merging Technology and Fiction

Denise Robbins, a software engineering manager by day, integrates her knowledge of computers and technology into all her techno-romantic thriller novels. Her published works include It Happens in Threes and Killer Bunny Hill with Connect the Dots and Never Tempt Danger scheduled for release in 2010.

I saw down with Denise and asked about the unique combination of technology and fiction.

Your computer background has obviously been a big factor in the plots of your books. How did you become interested in technology?
It all started when I was a kid. In elementary school we went on a field trip to an electronics shop. In there, we saw all kinds of cool gadgets like small calculators, electronic games, and then. . .a computer. Holy cow! I could play chess on the computer.

About that same time, my dad brought home a modem. I'm not talking the modems you pick up today that fit in the palm of your hand, we're talking a behemoth of a machine that looked like a typewriter with a phone coupler attached to it.

Some readers may not understand the significance of computers in fighting crime. Explain how important an understanding of new technologies can be in staying ahead of the bad guy.
Computers are used a great deal more than people think in regards to fighting crime. One simple example is the FBI's website that gives the public information on some of the criminals they are searching for. This website not only informs the public, but now there are large numbers of people on the lookout for the 'bad guys.'

Local police departments have computers in every patrol car, which can be used in different scenarios. Remember the last time you were pulled over? The police officer can put your license plate into the computer and check if the car was stolen, your driving record, or even your car registration. A police officer making a routine stop may not seem like any big deal or use for computer technology, but what you may not realize is that the same computer that told the officer the car was stolen, can also provide arrest and warrant information. Information attained via the computer by the officer makes him/her more capable of making the right decision of how to approach the situation.

Computers also give law enforcement the resources and technology needed to keep up with modern day criminals in the cyber world. Some criminals steal people's identities or purchase goods with someone else's credit cards over the Internet. Internet felons commit all sorts of crimes such as downloading child pornography, even trying to convince minors to meet them somewhere, which could result in abduction. Without computers, it would be nearly impossible to catch felons of this nature. Through computers law enforcement agencies can watch these actions and make the web safer.

Because of computers and instant access to large amounts of information, law enforcement agents have the power to turn a possible dangerous situation into a much safer one sooner rather than later.

Explain a little about nanotechnology and its current uses.
Nanotechnology is a technology based on the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules to build structures to complex, atomic specifications. The nanoscale is about a thousand times smaller than micro that is, about 1/80,000 of the diameter of a human hair.

Items already available in the marketplace include: burn and wound dressings, water filtration, dental-bonding agent, coatings for easier cleaning glass, bumpers and catalytic converters on cars, protective and glare-reducing coatings for eyeglasses and cars, sunscreens and cosmetics, stain-free clothing and mattresses, ink, longer-lasting tennis balls, and lightweight and stronger tennis rackets.

A ski jacket produced by Franz Ziener GmbH&Co is based on nanotechnology. The windproof and waterproof properties are not obtained by a surface coating of the jacket but by the use of nanofibres.

The company InMat makes long-lasting tennis-balls by coating the inner core with clay polymer nanocomposites. These tennis-balls have twice the lifetime of conventional balls.

What do you see happening with nanotechnology in the future?
Today, we have just scratched the surface on what nanotechnology will do for us. There are many nanotechnology applications in research and development. In the field of medicine, there will be Qdots that identify the location of cancer cells in the body and Nanoparticles that deliver chemotherapy drugs directly to cancer cells to minimize damage to healthy cells. Can you imagine not having to expose the entire body to chemotherapy but only the part that requires the treatment?

Nanotechnology is huge in the science and technology area as well, in particular, manmade diamonds. In recent years, there has been research into producing manmade diamonds, no, not cubic zirconia, but "real" diamonds grown in a lab and not in nature. Manmade diamonds is a huge breakthrough that will only get bigger. The diamond has the largest thermal conductivity of any material. With every improvement in computer chip technology, the machines get faster and hotter. At some point the chips and computer insides will melt. Diamonds are the answer for faster computers without the heat factor. For the same thermal conductivity reason, manmade diamonds could help make lasers of extreme power. The material could allow a cell phone to fit into a watch and iPods to store 10,000 movies, not just 10,000 songs.

I could go on, but you get the idea. Nanotechnology is the next great wave and I'm hoping it hits soon.

What are some of the challenges in blending cutting-edge technology with fiction?
The challenge in creating techno-fiction is knowing how to keep the story moving at the same time giving enough of a visual picture of the technology so the reader understands without dumping boring information on top of their head.

It seems like the field of technology is more of a man's world. How did you end up in the field and why do you think there aren't more women involved?

I think since my dad was in technology, not the same as I am involved today, I was destined for computers.

Taking a job with a government contractor for the Department of Defense hooked me on technology. I was part of a team that built software for use in military medical facilities. It was when I taught computer programs and programming to adults that I found my love for all that 'geeky' computer stuff. There is nothing like watching the spark in somebody's eyes as the light bulb goes on inside their head after they have learned to write code and see the result.

Why there are not more women in science and technology is a question that has been asked quite a lot in recent years. One simple answer is how parents and teachers present information technology professions and other occupations to their daughters and students. It is about encouraging and providing role models.
Another explanation for the lack of women in information technology careers is misconception and preference. Why do I say that as if they are com-mingled? Many people believe working in IT is solitary. They imagine someone sitting in front of a computer eight hours or more a day with no one to talk with. Ask any of the engineers that work for and with me and they will let you know that is not the case.

In general, women prefer to work with people while men prefer to work with things. With the solitary misconception out there, many women are choosing other careers.

Do you have a lot of male readers because of your interesting plots? How do you draw them in?
To be honest, I am not certain that I have too many male readers yet, but I have a few and I want more. I think once the guys know that my novels are based on interesting and real technology, have suspense and mystery woven in with action and adventure that they will want to read them. All it takes is a few good men. . .to spread the word.

While my novels are fiction, when my hero or heroine is shooting a weapon, all readers should know that I have done the research and had the experience several times. My first time shooting anything, but a shotgun at skeet (of which I am a very good shot), was when I wrote It Happens in Threes. I had to know what it felt like. I contacted a friend who taught me all the various right and wrongs and who enjoyed seeing me struggle filling a clip and always forgetting to take the safety off.

Right now, my attempt at "drawing them in" is to give a guy I see a copy of the book, ask him to read it, and let me know what he thinks. So far, the response has been positive. The other little tidbit that helps draw the men in as that I have other men review and edit my novels for the male perspective. It always helps me when Steve or David say, "No guy would say that." Then they wrinkle their noses and slash away at my work. I am very grateful. I also have friends who are former military and they correct some of my ideas as well.

How do you handle the fine line between giving too much technological information and making the story flow?
This is an excellent question. Computer stuff can be very dry and boring, take it from me. What I do is take technology and introduce the readers to it in small pieces, like breadcrumbs of information, so that technology is part of the mystery or part of the solution in the puzzle. I take the technology and break it down so my characters show you just enough to make you understand, and at the same time get curious. Wait until you find out about nanotechnology in Killer Bunny Hill. I'll give you a hint - Diamonds aren't just a girl's best friend.

Where do you come up with your story ideas?
My story ideas come from various places and most the time it is just a matter of sitting down with pen and paper and asking myself about the particular characters I have just identified in my mind. Sometimes, as in the case of my second novel Killer Bunny Hill, the seed for novel will just hit me while flying across the country on a plane. In the case of my fourth novel Never Tempt Danger, the idea came from a dream. Those are just the beginnings, now I have to construct a story line and that takes a little more effort.

Sometimes I take from my own experiences with technology, but that is still limited in scope. So what do I do? Well, here is my answer.

I did some research once for work when I accidentally ran across an article on 'manmade diamonds' and using them as computer chips. As I continued to read the story, I found out about an organization known as DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. This agency is the central research and development office for the Department of Defense. They fund all kinds of technology research in order to keep our military technologically superior and in turn keep us safe and military personnel safe. Cool stuff!

Benefits of Home Solar Power Technology

Sunlight is one of the few things that people can enjoy for free. With that, the ingenuity employed in the creation of solar power generators for homes made sunlight one of the agreeable alternatives to fuel and coal-based energies. Not only does sunlight provide electricity to operate home appliances, architects and engineers are now taking advantage of its thermal properties to create solar homes as their way of effectively reducing the need for air conditioning units, giving home and building owners the chance to cut down energy costs in maintaining comfort in every room.

Solar energy is one of the most popular alternative sources of energy. Even the government supports the utilization of solar power in average American homes. In its move to promote awareness on the environmental and economic benefits of renewable and pollution-free sources of energy, incentives are now given to families who compensate their need for electricity with home solar power generators.

Home Solar Technology
Along with the advancement of the technologies involved in harnessing solar energy, a number of energy-efficient home appliances have been created to replace conventional fuel energy-dependent home appliances. For instance, there are now solar heating systems that are integrated in keeping swimming pools warm during colder months. We can now see a number of home air conditioning components such as vents and blowers that operate independently, thanks to their built-in and power-generating solar panels.

Benefits of Residential Solar Power
When it comes to home aesthetics, solar lightings and fountains are now gaining popularity because of their energy-efficient and wireless features. All of which are easy to install for they depend on their built-in solar power generators to operate. Aside from providing greener alternatives to powering home amenities, it relieves the families of the agonies of bearing with the ever increasing electric costs.

When talking about the environmental implications of utilizing solar power for homes, its main benefit is its lack of pollution. Unlike fuel and coal-based energy sources, solar energy does not give off noxious gases or substances that add up to the many forms of environmental pollutions.

And since they operate cleanly, there is no need for maintenance when it comes to solar powers for homes. Also, since they operate cleanly, the equipment used in generating solar power are not subject to damage. This ensures long-term service even with absolutely no maintenance.

Using Solar Energy For Homes
While it is never cheap to go green, return of investment on solar energy generator for homes is fast. On the average, a home solar power generator costs around $2,000 to $15,000. This will translate to a lot of savings in the long run as it relieves you of the outrageous electric bills that you pay on a monthly basis.

And while you gain independence in terms of energy, the excess amount of energy that your home power generators produce can be sold to a local energy provider. Hence, it keeps you from being constantly worrying on your monthly electric bills every time regular fuel rates increase.

Establishing solar power for the home presents a guiltless alternative to energy consumption. Its main source of energy is readily available, pollution-free and can be used free of charge. To make the shift to solar power more appealing to American families, most states are now implementing financial stimuli in adapting solar power technologies among American homes.

With the tax incentives given by the state government, adopting solar energy generators proposes a great way of earning substantial savings throughout the life of the solar system.

Earth - Solar Technologies and Countries

Everything alive on Planet Earth is exposed to the Sun. Sun radiation is everywhere, more near the equators less near the poles. Instead of looking downward into coal mines and crude oil drilling sites we better look upward to the Sun.

Although it is a well known fact that the Sun can provide all our energy needs, the shift toward renewable energy resources is at the very beginning. It will take time for the process to accelerate, we are still heavily invested in electrical Power Plants working on coal, crude oil and gas, we still have hundreds of millions of cars with internal combustion engine and fossils are still cheaper than solar power.

What we need is the right combination of green oriented political forces and the technology development of simpler more cost effective solar systems. Politics is driven by the will of aware people; technology is driven by scientists and engineers. Automated mass production, using cheaper than Silicon materials and Concentrated Solar will eventually lead to price reduction of Photovoltaic systems.

Earth Solar Power Plants Technologies
The most appropriate locations for Solar Power Plants are in desert areas. A Solar Power Plant is sitting on a relatively large piece of land and it requires lots of Sun radiation. Desert land is cheaper, doesn't have many other land usage alternatives and inherently gets a lot of solar radiation while cloudy days are rare. The two competing technologies are:

• Photovoltaic Power Plants
• Heating Water to get high pressure high temperature steam to drive electrical production turbines

Sun is the power behind winds and wind turbines farms are becoming a viable solution for large scale electricity production. The turbines are becoming larger in capacity (1 Megawatt and more), the towers are becoming taller and the cost become cheaper. Again, desert and arid areas with adequate wind flows are good locations. The Wind Farms sites are usually scrutinized by environmentalists and regulators to make sure they don't interfere with unique landscape features and that they don't interfere with bird migration habits and air traffic.

Solar power plants and wind turbine farms are by nature remote from the population centers, the actual consumers. This imposes added operational cost and increases the energy distribution losses due to long power lines

In attempt to get closer to the consumers, residential scale and medium scale "power plants" are available to home owners, small business buildings and suburban communities. To list a few:

• Residential Photovoltaic Systems; a lot of research is done to reduce the price of these systems (cheaper materials, automated production lines, mass production volume)
• Solar thermal water heaters and space heaters
• Rural areas and off grid small wind turbines
• Community Wind Turbines

Earth Solar Countries
World Solar development is observed everywhere. Solar Countries are countries that have awareness to solar, have proportionally to their population size a noticeable solar electric and solar thermal production capacity and that are leaders in solar and/or wind technologies.

I will eventually add a page for each of these Solar countries, so if you return in a couple of months to my site, it is highly probable you find the full list.

• South Pacific: Australia
• Europe: Denmark, the wind turbines leader
• Europe: Germany
• Middle East: Israel
• Europe: United Kingdom
• Europe: Spain
• America: United States
• Emerging Asia Solar Countries: China, South Korea

State of CAD and Engineering Workstation Technologies

Abbreviations

• CAD is Computer Aided Design
• CAE is Computer Aided Engineering
• CEW is Computer aided design and Engineering Workstation
• CPU is Central Processing Unit
• GPU is Graphics Processing Unit

Hardware for CPU-Intensive Applications

Computer hardware is designed to support software applications and it is a common but simplistic view that higher spec hardware will enable all software applications to perform better. Up until recently, the CPU was indeed the only device for computation of software applications. Other processors embedded in a PC or workstation were dedicated to their parent devices such as a graphics adapter card for display, a TCP-offloading card for network interfacing, and a RAID algorithm chip for hard disk redundancy or capacity extension. However, the CPU is no longer the only processor for software computation. We will explain this in the next section.

Legacy software applications still depend on the CPU to do computation. That is, the common view is valid for software applications that have not taken advantage of other types of processors for computation. We have done some benchmarking and believe that applications like Maya 03 are CPU intensive.

For CPU-intensive applications to perform faster, the general rule is to have the highest CPU frequency, more CPU cores, more main memory, and perhaps ECC memory (see below).

Legacy software was not designed to be parallel processed. Therefore we shall check carefully with the software vendor on this issue before expecting multiple-core CPUs to produce higher performance. Irrespectively, we will achieve a higher output from executing multiple incidences of the same application but this is not the same as multi-threading of a single application.

ECC is Error Code Detection and Correction. A memory module transmits in words of 64 bits. ECC memory modules have incorporated electronic circuits to detect a single bit error and correct it, but are not able to rectify two bits of error happening in the same word. Non-ECC memory modules do not check at all - the system continues to work unless a bit error violates pre-defined rules for processing. How often do single bit errors occur nowadays? How damaging would a single bit error be? Let us see this quotation from Wikipedia in May 2011, "Recent tests give widely varying error rates with over 7 orders of magnitude difference, ranging from 10−10−10−17 errors/bit-hour, roughly one bit error per hour per gigabyte of memory to one bit error per century per gigabyte of memory."

Hardware for GPU-Intensive Applications

The GPU has now been developed to gain the prefix of GP for General Purpose. To be exact, GPGPU stands for General Purpose computation on Graphics Processing Units. A GPU has many cores that can be used to accelerate a wide range of applications. According to GPGPU.org, which is a central resource of GPGPU news and information, developers who port their applications to GPU often achieve speedups of orders of magnitude compared to optimized CPU implementations.

Many software applications have been updated to capitalize on the newfound potentials of GPU. CATIA 03, Ensight 04 and Solidworks 02 are examples of such applications. As a result, these applications are far more sensitive to GPU resources than CPU. That is, to run such applications optimally, we should invest in GPU rather than CPU for a CEW. According to its own website, the new Abaqus product suite from SIMULIA - a Dassault Systemes brand - leverages GPU to run CAE simulations twice as fast as traditional CPU.

Nvidia has released 6 member cards of the new Quadro Fermi family by April 2011, in ascending sequence of power and cost: 400, 600, 2000, 4000, 5000 and 6000. According to Nvidia, Fermi delivers up to 6 times the performance in tessellation of the previous family called Quadro FX. We shall equip our CEW with Fermi to achieve optimum price/performance combinations.

The potential contribution of the GPU to performance depends on another issue: CUDA compliance.

State of CUDA Developments

According to Wikipedia, CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) is a parallel computing architecture developed by Nvidia. CUDA is the computing engine in Nvidia GPU accessible to software developers through variants of industry-standard programming languages. For example, programmers use C for CUDA (C with Nvidia extensions and certain restrictions) compiled through a PathScale Open64 C compiler to code algorithms for execution on the GPU. (The latest stable version is 3.2 released in September 2010 to software developers.)

The GPGPU website has a preview of an interview with John Humphrey of EM Photonics, a pioneer in GPU computing and developer of the CUDA-accelerated linear algebra library. Here is an extract of the preview: "CUDA allows for very direct expression of exactly how you want the GPU to perform a given unit of work. Ten years ago I was doing FPGA work, where the great promise was the automatic conversion of high level languages to hardware logic. Needless to say, the huge abstraction meant the result wasn't good."

Quadro Fermi family has implemented CUDA 2.1 whereas Quadro FX implemented CUDA 1.3. The newer version has provided features that are significantly richer. For example, Quadro FX did not support "floating point atomic additions on 32-bit words in shared memory" whereas Fermi does. Other notable improvements are:

• Up to 512 CUDA cores and 3.0 billion transistors
• Nvidia Parallel DataCache technology
• Nvidia GigaThread engine
• ECC memory support
• Native support for Visual Studio

State of Computer Hardware Developments

Abbreviations

• HDD is Hard Disk Drive
• SATA is Serial AT Attachment
• SAS is Serial Attached SCSI
• SSD is Solid State Disk
• RAID is Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks
• NAND is memory based on "Not AND" gate algorithm

Bulk storage is an essential part of a CEW for processing in real time and archiving for later retrieval. Hard disks with SATA interface are getting bigger in storage size and cheaper in hardware cost over time, but not getting faster in performance or smaller in physical size. To get faster and smaller, we have to select hard disks with SAS interfaces, with a major compromise on storage size and hardware price.

RAID has been around for decades for providing redundancy, expanding the size of volume to well beyond the confines of one physical hard disk, and expediting the speed of sequential reading and writing, in particular random writing. We can deploy SAS RAID to address the large storage size issue but the hardware price will go up further.

SSD has turned up recently as a bright star on the horizon. It has not replaced HDD because of its high price, limitations of NAND memory for longevity, and immaturity of controller technology. However, it has found a place recently as a RAID Cache for two important benefits not achievable with other means. The first is a higher speed of random read. The second is a low cost point when used in conjunction with SATA HDD.

Intel has released Sandy Bridge CPU and chipsets that are stable and bug free since March 2011. System computation performance is over 20% higher than the previous generation called Westmere. The top CPU model has 4 editions that are officially capable of over-clocking to over 4GHz as long as the CPU power consumption is within the designed limit for thermal consideration, called TDP (Thermal Design Power). The 6-core edition with official over-clocking will come out in June 2011 timeframe.

CurrentState & Foreseeable Future

Semiconductor manufacturing technology has improved to 22 x 10-9 metres this year 2011and is heading towards 18 nanometres in 2012. Smaller means more: we will get more cores and more power from a new CPU or GPU made on advancing nanotechnology. The current laboratory probe limit is 10-18and this sets the headroom for semiconductor technologists.

While GPU and CUDA are having big impacts on performance computing, the dominant CPU manufacturers are not resting on their laurels. They have started to integrate their own GPU into the CPU. However, the level of integration is a far cry from the CUDA world and integrated GPU will not displace CUDA for design and engineering computing in the foreseeable future. This means our current practice as described above will remain the prevailing format for accelerating CAD, CAE and CEW.

The Coolest Technologies And Gadgets In The Market

In the last few years, the personal technology industry has suddenly exploded with a special segment of innovative gadgets. These gadgets utilize existing technologies and create very interesting use cases for them. So here are some of those cool new things that are happening in the Technology market right now.

Touchscreen Technology
It has been around for quite some time now but it was Apple who suddenly came out with the multi touch iPhone. There statement was very bold - a smartphone with only one physical button. This sparked a revolution in the market and we are finally reaping the benefits in the form of multiple touchscreen based portable devices. There are touchscreen PMP's, touchscreen tablets/slates and of course - the new generation touchscreen phones and their respective mobile OS.

GeoLocation
For a lot of people, life without letting people know where they had their coffee would feel incomplete. And with geolocation built right on to your phone, it is easy to do that. The current crop of GPS/AGPS enabled smartphones with their collection of smart location based apps like FourSquare and GoWalla are completely changing how our real world activities interact with the virtual world.

Low Power Consuming, High Performance CPU's
These are mostly mobile processors like the ones made by ARM (e.g. Cortex A9) that run the modern day handheld devices. They run at amazing speeds that touch 1Ghz and also have multiple cores. These are the CPU's that have made sure that we can achieve futuristic ideas right now. The amount of power that we can now fit into the palm of our hands is amazing. This makes sure that all the other miniature technologies have access to enough processing power to do great things.

Solar Technology
This technology has also been around for quite some time now but only recently has it developed enough to makes its way in to really cool gadgets. We now have solar chargers for our cell phones. Solar powered small fans are also quite common. But the best solar panel that I have seen so far is one that is foldable like a cloth and charges your laptop in bright sun light.

Pico Projectors
This one is mainly thanks to Texas Instruments and their groundbreaking miniature DLP engine. This engine, along with miniature LCoS engine brought about the pico projector revolution. Now projectors can be small enough to fit inside your phone, digital camera and more. And even though they are not very bright now, that is changing fast.

Thin Speakers, Really Thin
How thin do you think speakers can go? Well, the thinnest so far are speakers made out of cloth. Yes, Yamaha has made cloth speakers that are 1 'millimeter' thin. It is thin enough to be easily wrapped up and transported. And if you print on it, it will look like any other piece of printed cloth. But it can emit sound that can be heard when standing directly in front of it. It is still not commercially available but it will hopefully be in the market soon.

Solar Power Technology and International Relations

Solar power technology is an exciting and developing field of study. Articles in both scientific and mainstream news frequently highlight its latest advancements. Notable events over just the last year include discoveries of new coating options, structural designs, storage methods, and material choices which all work toward creating solar cells that are more efficient as well as more affordable.

This level of interest in alternative energy should come as no surprise. In the world of today, many people and communities are finding themselves concerned about the condition of the environment. For this reason, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed.

This scientific body focuses on the risks involved in anthropogenic, or human-caused, climate change. Specifically, it has the task of assessing those risks as well as determining methods of addressing them. A formidable amount of science academies, societies, and other scientific organizations support the conclusions of the IPCC.

These concerns for the environment have encouraged steps to be taken on an international level to stabilize the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. One such step was the creation of the Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force in the year 2005. This protocol established legally binding commitments for the reduction of harmful emissions.

The treaty uses a cap and trade system with carbon credits and emissions quotas. Nations which fall under their emissions quotas may sell their credits. There are also opportunities for earning credits with different development projects. Such projects often deal with alternative energies like solar power.

While over 180 countries have ratified the treaty, the United States only signed it. A statement given by President George W. Bush on why it was not being submitted for ratification cited the economy. Also mentioned was the fact that China had signed it with many exemptions. At that time, China was the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the United States. Its exemptions were not viewed as being in line with the protocol.

The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol is set to expire in 2012. Discussions about the next period have been ongoing. The role of the United States in the next treaty remains to be seen.

Of course, the U.S. does recognize the need for change. While President Bush did not attempt to ratify the agreement, he clarified that it wasn't due to a lack of support for the principles of the Kyoto Protocol.

All of this has set the tone for great environmental achievements to be made between countries. As the top carbon dioxide emitters, agreements between U.S. and China stand to benefit the rest of the world. Both nations are part of the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.

Recent news has highlighted agreements made between the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEE) and the American National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). These are two of the largest solar power research institutes in the world. Both have signed a memorandum of understanding, or MOU.

Under this agreement, Chinese and American scientists will focus on photovoltaic (PV) battery and component testing. It also emphasizes that research and development of technology will be shared. This allows for quicker and more effective communication between the researching groups.

The vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiang Mianheng, has said that the deal represents great headway being made between the two institutes, and has great hopes for solar energy development. The NREL Web site points out that the MOU expands collaboration between the world's largest economies and energy consumers. Events such as these are smaller gestures within the greater movements that define a political as well as physical climate of change.

Profession of Electrical Engineering

The modern world has affected tremendously from the inventions in the field of electronics that have changed and continue to change our lifestyle. Today, our lives are directly affected by electricity without which we cannot perform most of our day-to-day tasks. The advancement in the field of electrical engineering has definitely created wonderful opportunities for professionals linked to this field. Geniuses like Nikola Tesla and Thomas Alva Edison made lives easier when they gifted mankind fantastic inventions. Similarly today's electrical engineers are also striving to give this world more advanced tools to make the life easier than ever before.

The basic job of an electrical engineer is to design systems that provide electrical power, such as the power distribution scheme in any infrastructure

All the major engineering universities of Pakistan namely, NED University of engineering and Technology, National University of Science and Technology (NUST), University of Engineering Science and Technology, Sialkot, offer degree program in electrical engineering. Since today's world would be impossible to run without electricity, career and Job prospect for electrical engineers is very bright in Pakistan and abroad.

Electrical engineering is the knowledge of generation, transmission, distribution, utilization and control of electricity. Electric power is normally changed into mechanical power, heat, sound, light or chemical power by some motor, electric magnet, Furness, loudspeaker, lamp or electrolytic. Electrical engineering has performed an important rule in the advancement of science and technology today due to the characteristic of being changing of electric power into mechanical power.

Electrical engineering begins with the activity of generating electric power through generators. Electricity is generated by the generators which work through oil, gas or atomic energy, or construct dam on rivers. Then this electricity is supplied to cities, towns and villages for domestic and industrial consumption. Different equipments and instruments are fixed for such purpose of distribution and transmission. Generation of electric power in the electric station, transmission to cities, distribution of electricity among domestic and industrial consumers, fitting of electrical equipment, are all such activities which are performed under the supervision of engineers.

The youths having practical approach and creative abilities can be more successful in the field of engineering. They are necessary to be logical minded and have the ability to pre plain their task. An engineer also has to work as an administrator therefore he should have the ability to make use of others. Doing a work in a disciplined manner and arrange the record carefully are some additional persona of an engineer.

Portable Power Distribution Units - The Most Indispensable Device

For any job site, proper power distribution is eminent and has huge significance. For uninterrupted flow of power and electricity distribution units are used. They are specifically designed to maintain the load and keep a balance in the power capacity. Such units are capable of performing in adverse conditions and are well equipped with sound and reliable technologies. With state-of-the-art methods and high end methodologies, power units are created. Engineered with the highest quality machining and latest equipment, they focus on providing maximum output in cost effective pricing.

They help us in meeting the day to day challenges of industrial sector and also allow the highest range of specifications to be involved. Every industrial need is different and demands keep changing. The units can be tailor made to match the detailed needs and improve the overall business of the sector. They are extensively tried and tested before delivery and are delivered once it passes all quality checks.

Portable power distribution units are very convenient in terms of usage and can be installed very easily at any given place of the job site. Portability makes it even more effective and enhances its capabilities. Performance and durability of such units are good and premium manufacturers make sure that they offer the best to their customers.

Temporary power distribution is very essential for every industrial area as they help and works as back-up in case of power failure or any other crisis situation. They make up for electricity failures and avoid any type of losses. Installation is very simple and can be done in minutes. Make sure an expert technician does it to avoid any loop holes.

Roles of Electrical Supplies and Power Distribution

Electrical supplies are among the most essential components of a power distribution system. These components are not only required to supply power from the power stations to different areas, they are also critical to facilitate the power distribution system in a building. As a result, it is important that various electrical components follow the standards set up by the industry.

Before you purchase the supply of these components for your electrical store, you must understand the importance of each one of them. By doing so, you will be able to sell the right type of electric components that are required by your customers in the area. Here is a discussion that explains various roles of electrical supplies.

Distribution of Power
The first obvious role played by these components is distribution of power from source to the destination. For this, wires and cables are the most important electrical components required. Wires and cables are also required to be installed during the construction of a new building. These electrical supplies are made up of different materials and are insulated to ensure that they are not affected by moisture and other similar things.

Storage Components
Another role played by electrical components is the storage of power for future use. Batteries of different types are used for this purpose. These electrical supplies are used for the devices like inverter and uninterrupted power supply systems used for computers. These are of great use in areas that face frequent power failures, in order to maintain the supply of power.

Connecting Electronic Devices
Various electrical supplies, including switches, sockets and plugs are used to connect different electronic devices to the power distribution system in a house or a building. These components are helpful in connecting cooking appliances, entertainment devices and computer to the power supply.

Purpose of Lighting
There are various electrical components and devices that are required for the purpose of lighting at homes, offices and commercial places. Electrical bulbs, tube lights and lamps are among the supplies that are essentially required by people living in different types of areas. The modern electrical components in this direction are environment-friendly and are counted among green devices. This is because they consume less power and cause less pollution that their traditional counterparts.

Safety Components
One serious threat in a power supply system can be sudden increase in the voltage level that can lead to fire accidents and electrical shocks. In order to handle these situations, there are safety electrical supplies that are installed in the power supply system to maintain voltage and current at the right levels. It is very important that these components are manufactured using industry standards.

In fact, all types of electrical components and supplies must abide by the industry standards. You must obtain these supplies from the authorized and reputed manufacturers and suppliers only. Internet and the online business directories are the best sources for you to find electrical component manufacturers and supplier sin your area as well as those located in other cities across the globe.

5 Beneficial Products of Alternative Energy Engineering

Much has been made in recent years of the problem of global warming. There is an evident need for families utilize alternative energy engineering. Alternative energy engineering is both the process and end product of research and development into energy sources that are not from fossil fuels. This form of engineering has resulted in several products that consumers can use today. Here are five beneficial Products of alternative energy engineering.

1. Hybrid Cars - Hybrids are half-electric, half-gasoline powered cars. Most of the hybrids on the roads today do not require charging, rather utilize the transfer of kinetic energy to electricity that are stored in fuel cells. Hybrids allow a car to get more miles on a single tank of gas, therefore requiring less fuel and creating less smog.

2. Electric Cars - Electric cars run purely on charged fuel cells. These cars need to be plugged in to be charged. Many of the early electric cars were only able to go about 100 miles on one charge. However, with improvements in battery technology, newer cars can go up to 300 miles per charge. These cars utilize lithium ion batteries, which are basically large versions of cell phone batteries.

3. Geothermal Heating/Cooling - During the cooler months, the temperature underground is warmer than the air above. Likewise, the ground is cooler in the summer. A geothermal unit utilizes this fact by extracting the warmer or cooler air to heat and cool a home. The only downside to these units is that they tend to be expensive, though, they often pay for themselves within five years.

4. Solar Power - Solar power, along with geothermal and wind power, is a renewable energy source. Solar panels capture the energy from the sun into photoelectric cells and convert this energy into electricity. Solar power technology has been around for a while now and there are many ways to utilize this solution for home or portable use. Some future hybrid vehicles will feature solar paneling on their roofs that will help power the heating and cooling system when the car is shut off.

5. Wind Power - Wind power uses windmills or wind turbines, to convert wind energy into electricity. As the blades turn, they generate energy that can be stored into battery cells or wired to a home's main breaker. Though they can sometimes be unsightly, windmills produce a good amount of power and can dramatically reduce or even eliminate power bills.

There are more excited technologies being discovered everyday in this race to find the best alternative energy source. The best thing is that consumers benefit while creating a cleaner environment.

Solar Technology To Power The Future

Every single day, more energy from the sun extends to the planet than what is needed to power all of our energy specifications for a year.

This is a remarkable reality when you think about it, because it is in fact energy that is free. The problem up until now has actually been how to harvest that energy. Despite the fact that direct sunlight is free, transforming that energy is expensive, or at least the instruments to do so, cuts into your budget.

It is a weird contradiction. Nonetheless, with the increase of worldwide understanding concerning climate change, the world's scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs are looking for strategies to make this a far more viable form of consuming energy.

The two difficulties have actually been price and efficiency. Solar panel technology devices are a pricey process once you start to examine it. The efficiency has also not been extraordinary until now. But then again, the first of just about anything is usually big, bulky and ineffective. That's just the way in which engineering operates. The first computer ever developed could just fit into a room, and had very limited processing capability. Currently, a number of decades later, computers are more compact and more powerful than ever. So it is logical to expect that solar energy technology will also become more cost effective and just as essential, more efficient.

It is incredible when you begin to think about the truth that all the energy we will ever need, is in actual fact freely obtainable. I used to do quite a bit of exploration on all sorts of new technology on a regular basis, and you would be astonished as to how regularly some university or technology institute makes some sort of discovery particularly in the area of solar energy.

You could just about suggest it is a daily occurrence now, and I suspect that discoveries and breakthroughs are now made even with greater frequency. A snowball effect comes to mind, and we have to presume that solar technology may become well known in the next couple of years. Possibly even in areas where the sun doesn't shine all that often, if one takes into account the advancement in efficiency ratios. There does appear to be a number of approaches to solar technology these days, as this area progresses speedily. There are a number of solar how to guides available, with many solar lights making use of photovoltaic solar cells.

How to Get Wind Power Jobs in the Wind Power Industry

The renewable energy sector is a massive growth industry. With government commitments to ensure that up to a quarter of the country's energy comes from renewable sources by 2020, 'green' energy such as wind power is expanding at a phenomenal rate. The result is that the wind power industry is rapidly becoming one of the largest employers in the power sector, with jobs in construction, maintenance, development and engineering all readily available. So if you are looking for power jobs in the wind power sector, how do you go about taking those first steps on your chosen career path?

Get trained

If you don't have experience in technology or engineering qualifications, breaking into the industry can be difficult. Jobs in wind power can be more specialist than in other utility industries such as oil or gas, so those without relevant qualifications may find it almost impossible to be considered for wind power job openings. There are courses specialising in renewable energy technology and are a worthwhile investment of both time and money if you are determined to make a career in the sector. An environmental engineering degree is ideal, but there are shorter courses available both at colleges and online that will give you the required qualifications to get on the first rung of the ladder.

Apprenticeships within the wind power industry are rare and usually massively oversubscribed, but it is worth contacting wind power companies to find out if they have any openings for apprentices. Those with previous experience in the electrical power industry may find that their qualifications and experience are transferable, but further training in the specifics of wind power are highly recommended.

Enhance your CV

Any experience, even as a volunteer at a wind park, is going to look good so make sure your CV is up to date and relevant. Volunteering at a wind park is a good way to meet those who already work in the industry, and it always pay to have friends in the industry.

Once you've added to your qualifications and updated your CV, the best bet is to sign up to a specialist employment agency that deals directly with the sector. They will have access to power jobs that may not be advertised widely and will also be able to pair up your qualifications and experience with the right position. They will also be able to give you advice on furthering your qualifications, what potential areas are opening up and how you could adapt your skills-set to take advantage of new opportunities.

Determination is the key to finding a wind power job. New employers are entering the field, meaning that there is a constant demand for technical staff, electricians, environmental specialists and research and development personnel. All of this means that the wind power industry is one of the biggest growth areas in the power sector. Fossil fuels are a finite resource, which means that as time goes on renewable energy will become much more important as an industry. Get in at the start and you could have a job for life.