tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67013711364755165032024-02-07T04:09:44.848+01:00SunthingsA diary of my literal and metaphorical strivings to gain energy from the sunForget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-15381784037634077552013-06-13T14:11:00.001+02:002013-08-11T11:50:27.702+02:00Tha solar installation project in Nepal has been completed !
PROJECT COMPLETED!
As many of you know, I didn't get to accompany the installation due to a bicycling accident which forced me to cancel my trip. Nevertheless, The Himalayan Light Foundation proceeded and completed the installations as planned. Here is the e-mail from Yadav Gurung, the project co-ordinator:Dear Marta,We have successfully completed the project. The day we reached Gilung it was Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-56409991373396292202013-04-19T14:43:00.001+02:002013-04-19T14:49:31.261+02:00The photoelectric effectNow that I'm home healing an injury, I might as well put the time to some use and write about something that interests me: how to explain the inner workings of a solar cell in plain language. Admittedly any discussion that involves the submacroscopic world that can't be experienced directly takes a leap of faith, a willingness to believe that theories, evidence, calculations and measurements can Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-75251791944506524952013-04-18T18:34:00.002+02:002013-04-19T14:50:43.618+02:00SetbacksThe solar panels are on their way to Gilung, Nepal and soon they will be installed. The Himalayan Light Foundation will see to the installation. But I won't be going there myself now, not at this time anyway. I managed to get caught between a car and a curb while bicycling and chose to fall onto the curb. Result, a fracure in the upper arm and a torn ligament. Doctors said not a chance to head Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-10666998017227452442013-04-14T12:45:00.001+02:002013-04-14T12:45:38.648+02:00Solar ShipmentHi everyone,
the solar shipment is on its way ! Here you can see the two units to be installed in the two community buildings in Gilung, Nepal.
Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-44937270874212995722013-03-20T11:31:00.001+01:002013-08-11T11:52:13.219+02:00Solar Lights in NepalThe project is launched!
The community centers in remote Gilung in Nepal have no electricity or lights, just like much of rural Nepal. This project will bring solar lights to the two community buildings.
Here is a picture of the inside of the community center.
Here is a picture of the committee members in front of the community center.
I've been trying to get the site launched Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-25616198651520053672013-03-11T21:23:00.002+01:002013-03-11T21:28:27.766+01:00PreparationsRabies, polio and hepatitis shots today. Pills for typhoid. Purchased a Steri-pen water purifier. The iPhone's on an energy diet - two weeks already it gets all its power exclusively from 3W portable solar cells. The Nepal trip approaches.Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-4124173664242877712013-02-20T08:42:00.001+01:002013-02-20T08:46:16.774+01:00Testing the blogging app on the iPhoneThis is probably of interest only to myself. How do I maintain my blog while in the remote wilderness? I'm testing the blogger app on my iPhone. While it looks like I can blog fairly easily, it seems that I don't have the option to prepare a post offline for the time when connecting to the internet is not an option. Hmm, looks like I need to figure this out.
Testing further, i took an iPhone Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-91417119622701599312013-02-11T07:34:00.000+01:002013-02-11T07:39:03.724+01:00Portable solar cells
After a long career in photovoltaics, I finally decided it was time to get a few solar cells for personal use. Other than a few gadgets, I've never had any for home use. Since I'm an avid hiker, I decided to get a portable variety that would allow me to travel for longer journeys without the need for an external electricity supply. I'll explain this motivation in a further post. The desire is Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-35479162399639765892013-01-22T23:00:00.000+01:002013-01-22T23:00:03.308+01:00What is it like to be a writer?
I'm afraid I have no idea - it's been over a year since my blog has been graced with my ramblings. But I do know a very delightful person who knows how to write. Catherine Banner has just started a web site to clarify how a writer writes, or,specifically, how the writer Catherine Banner writes. She started writing at a very young age and published her first book when she was only... but you canForget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-7533897060029932011-12-04T16:25:00.001+01:002011-12-04T16:44:35.220+01:00the journey
I received a bit of encouragement to start blogging again (thanks, Steve). While one post doesn't mean I'm back, it's, well, one post. As in the past, my thoughts about writing go to the most banal events of my life with a smattering of photovoltaics thrown in.
Central to my way of life remains the bicycle. This photo is from my commute, here coming home from work in the evening. I have a 200m Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-23287881648955246692011-04-30T11:16:00.002+02:002011-04-30T11:39:30.982+02:00Blogging vs facebookI never used to use facebook but use it more now - at the expense of starting to blog again. There are a couple of things that make facebook preferable. I find it more interactive, whereas blogging was something I viewed as writing for writing's sake. Right now it's the interaction I prefer. I also like being constrained by the length of facebook status updates - it prevents the sort of ramblingForget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-2565061218206939892010-10-13T22:28:00.002+02:002010-10-13T23:21:55.584+02:00The year gone byYep, a whole year and then some since my last post. In the year and a half since leaving Sweden I've move my entire household three times and have lived in 9 different places for stays ranging from 2 weeks to 2 months. I now consider myself to be fairly settled, having lived in my *permanent* home for 4 months already. I'm actually quite pleased with my new digs, an appartment outside of town (Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-27239133626020969342009-08-18T12:13:00.002+02:002009-08-18T12:50:30.162+02:00Zurich......it is after all! 2 weeks to go before I move, again. The big world of solar cell production in Berlin proved to be a bit too distant from my sheltered research life to date. My whimsical and impulsive approach to experiments had been replaced with goal-driven planning and motivation. I learned how to write experiments in the smallest details and analyse and report the results without ever Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-890733693561319332009-03-21T08:45:00.004+01:002009-03-21T16:51:14.660+01:00Still Here!It looks like I'll be continuing my "leave of absence" from blogging for a while longer. But I can recount some highlights of my whereabouts this past month. After deciding to come to Berlin, there was, of course, lots that needed doing - moving, selling my house in Uppsala, finishing my job and, oh, attending all those good-bye events! Now in Berlin, I very much miss my Uppsala friends and Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-22175262362881631802009-02-04T18:40:00.002+01:002009-02-04T18:59:32.661+01:00Berlin......is my next destination. I'm packing up, selling the house (I hope) and will leave Uppsala in exactly 3 weeks. A new job awaits me at one of the thin film photovoltaic companies lucky enough to secure financing before the financial crisis hit. For almost a year I've been hoping to join a small start-up in Zurich with a long way to go before having anything ready for market. Not surprisingly, Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-31845025783548452782009-01-29T14:34:00.006+01:002009-01-30T19:19:43.053+01:00Oz Weather is #1Graham Dawson has finally made it!! His iPhone weather app has become Australia's #1 seller. This is due in no small measure to great programming and attention to design and detail. But ultimately, Oz Weather's the best because of Graham's passion for weather which I can attest he's had at least since his teen years (I really suspect that his parents gave him a toy weather station for his third Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-42610262205536900422009-01-24T17:43:00.004+01:002009-01-24T18:58:41.206+01:00"Sambo"I looked up the English translation of the word "sambo": co-habitee, co-habiter, person with whom one lives, partner, common-law spouse. Of these, "partner" is the only one that comes close to being usable in a social context. And yet, looking up definitions for the word "partner", I found the closest definition to be "husband or wife" and "spouse", words which indicate being married to the "Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-64442601964630634972009-01-21T19:21:00.005+01:002009-01-21T20:41:03.333+01:00A new America?If ever there was a time I felt like walking around waving a little American flag, this would have been it. I didn't actually do this, but it's the thought that counts. While remaining skeptical about how much change is likely to occur under Obama, the fact that there is so much hope is undeniably, irresistably uplifting.Hope is good.Nevertheless, the number one reason that caused me to flee the Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-78090440798611373542008-12-29T21:08:00.005+01:002008-12-29T22:20:23.304+01:00Ice musicI forgot to mention today about hearing the ice sing while skating. Beautiful (and loud). Here's an analysis by an acoustical engineer, Gunnar Lundmark, relating tone frequency to ice thickness. I guessed - with my less than perfect ear - that today's tone was A4. According to wikipedia that's 440 Hz which would correspond to about 7.5 cm of ice. The ice was reported to be 9 cm which should haveForget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-4292192267678489902008-12-29T17:51:00.006+01:002008-12-29T18:46:19.529+01:00We've got ice!!The clear, cold days started well before Christmas and the temperature has been sinking steadily: -10C today at midday. We (Alessandro, Ariana - a Czech friend - and I) went to a lake a 20 minute drive east of Uppsala where today's ice report indicated 9 cm thick ice. With the cold temps and no snow at all, the whole lake was skateable. The white stuff is ice crystals which didn't interfere with Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-30920720763135334432008-12-27T13:28:00.003+01:002008-12-27T17:25:59.135+01:00Burnt goatLooks like they torched Gävle's goat last night. This is what it became about 12 hours after I took its picture for yesterday's blog post . The story's in the Local.Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-1159106641284626072008-12-26T21:12:00.006+01:002008-12-27T13:40:47.085+01:00Gävle JulbockThe large straw goat in the town of Gävle made the news on Christmas day. Not because something happened to it, but simply because it was still in place, untouched and unharmed. The 13 meter high Christmas symbol has been torched more often than not since it first made its appearance in Gävle in 1966. Various strategies to ensure that Gävle still would have its goat have been tried including Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-80539207222680675282008-12-23T16:37:00.004+01:002008-12-23T17:31:20.723+01:00New blogI've finally decided to separate my CIGS ramblings from my personal ones even though the two often overlap. The plan is to move over all CIGS related stuff from this blog to the new one, Sunny Side Up - a CIGS adventure. Apparently my last post on quantum eficiency had a tad too much detail for some friends and family. This way I can feel free to talk about band gaps, Fermi levels and activation Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-86348240747527235022008-12-19T18:24:00.003+01:002008-12-19T18:37:11.379+01:00The black hole in the milky wayZoom in to the center of the milky way in this film from ESO, the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere. Got this from Lunken's blog.Forget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6701371136475516503.post-54421628520748981612008-12-18T21:32:00.005+01:002013-11-28T11:15:36.801+01:00How does a CIGS solar cell respond to sunlight?Well, hopefully the solar cell will act like a battery when the sun shines on it. But, of course, I want to go into a bit more detail than that. I've already written a fair number of posts regarding the making and workings of CIGS solar cells. You'll find them by clicking on the "CIGS" label at the bottom of this post. If you're new to the CIGS world, I suggest you start there first.
By now, youForget-me-nothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860531336517592220noreply@blogger.com7