Welcome to SONja´sWANja
SON = the sun
Wanja = the bath tub
Ja = yes
and Sonja is a name of a beautiful girl…
So we took a bath, in a wooden bath tub, on top of a mountain called Krippenstein – Dachstein (2100m). The water is nice and warm, heated by the power of the sun. And a lot of fun...
It is a realization of a dream and a loud call for the power of the sun.
We:
Herbert Huemer, Business Manager - Xolar (www.xolar.at)
Gregor Sieböck, Der Weltenwanderer (www.globalchange.at)
Michael Schwingshackl, Student Technical Uni-Graz (www.findthebase.org)
and lots of friends are happy to spread the message of the sun all over the world. Not only water heating solutions and photovoltaic for electricity generation, it is the sun which gives us humans and nature the necessary energy.
Warning: Mountains are places where responsibility, respect, knowledge, appropriate equipment, good weather and experience are needed!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
8:30 Main participants meet at the mountain (cable car station):
Manual transport of the equipment to the mountain-top site:
10:00 Start assembling solar collectors and bath tub at the mountain-top site:
11:00 Carrying of water from cable car station to the mountain-top site to fill the bath tub:
13:00 Afternoon trial run to test working of solar heating system.
Everything prepared for tomorrow,
And isolated for the night!
No comment!
Sunday, 10 February 2008 – Solar Bath Day!
8:00 Preparing the solar heating system and the bath tub:
12:15 BATH TIME!!! Water temperature, a steaming 38°C; Air temperature, a frigid -2°C…
Michael,Herbert,Gregor
15:00 Lots of helping hands from the participants made the disassembly of the solar collectors and bath tub easy work.
Facts about the sun and solar energy:
In only two years of operation, enough energy is produced by the solar panel to equalise the amount of energy used in its production.
Financial amortisation is only between six and twelve years, depending on the type of solar equipment installed.
Minimum guaranteed lifetime of the solar panels is 30 years.
Even in the Austrian alps, with their changing weather conditions, solar panels operate year round, and produce enough energy to heat all the household hot water where a panel is installed on 250 days of the year!
1 m2 of a solar panel for heating can save 70 l of oil per year.
With 20 m2 of photovoltaic cells, one could drive an electric car 15000 km per year!
Minimum 28 years of net energy production and a minimum of 18 years of financial savings from solar panels!
This event was designed to be as low-impact as possible. All equipment and supplies, including the water to fill the tub, was carried by the participants up to the site. The only traces left at the conclusion were footsteps in the snow.
Solar technology is available and functional today; we just have to use it! Even in these extreme winter conditions, it is possible to have a hot steam bath, heated solely by the sun, at over 2100m!
A few links :
www.globalchange.at – the World Wanderer
www.sun-master.at – Leading Austrian solar panel producer and installer
www.martinvosseler.ch – Solar hike across the U.S.A.
www.transatlantic21.org - the first motorized crossing of the Atlantic with solar power to promote the great potential of this technology for ocean navigation.
www.findthebase.org – Inspiring concepts for sustainable living
We would like to thank all the people that have participated and allowed this dream to come true. And those who make advertisement for the sun...
... send this link to your friends!
