Do you think it’s desirable, or even possible, to be green and hi-tech on an everyday basis? As the name of our blog implies, the aim of our project is to find greener ways to live and build. Through our build choices, we hope to show readers and visitors to Sky House Sussex that ‘green’ and ‘luxury’ are no longer mutually exclusive.
Here’s a small example of a greener choice we made. We thought it would be fun to capture some of the action on site in speeded-up time-lapses. This one minute video of the diggers excavating the back of the plot was filmed over 5 days using a GoPro camera stationed on a wooden post. But without power from the grid, Joe and Sam had to painstakingly climb to the top of the post every few hours to change the dwindling battery.
Loading endless batteries into the camera is not an environmentally friendly way to film. So now we’ve gone hi-tech to harness nature’s power: the GoPro 6 watt solar power system (see photo below) generates fantastic free energy. What’s not to love? The clever camera whose battery will fully charge in 5.5 hours of direct sun can take photos for an entire week and put itself to sleep in between. The system has multiple USB inputs so can solar-charge everyone’s mobile phones and tablets on site.
This is new age smart technology. It feels great to be able to use solar power for more than just our PV roof panels. Maybe we’ll consider a solar-powered bikini next. You think we’re joking? Check out this article by Business Green on the different ways solar power can used to cut carbon emissions Solar Power: not just for rooftops
We hope you’ll enjoy watching footage of the build at super-speed from the comfort of your own home. Stay tuned for the next instalment.
Changing the battery the old-fashioned way