Earth and space are about to come into contact in a way that’s new to human history. To make preparations, authorities in Washington DC are holding a meeting: The Space Weather Enterprise Forum at the National Press Club on June 8th. “The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity. At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms. The intersection of these two issues is what we’re getting together to discuss.”

How wind turbines work can be explained as a conversion of kinetic energy (wind) to mechanic energy (turbine). Small wind turbines such as those used at residences usually have the blades connected to a DC generator, power inverter, AC generator and bank of batteries… ** Hayden’s Note Attached **

On any bright, cloud-free day, the sun projects some 1,000 watts of energy on a square meter basis onto the earth’s surface. Although converting sunlight into electricity sounds like a simple concept, solar panels work in a specific and rather complex way.