Council votes to ask state legislators to tighten solar water heater law

There are still a couple of hurdles for its wishes to come true, but the Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday gave its unanimous stamp of approval on a possible amendment to a state law promoting renewable energy.

“This is a small step, but this is the only way we are going to get to energy sustainability; taking small steps,” Council Vice Chair JoAnn Yukimura said.

What the council approved was a request to the Hawai‘i State Association of Counties to include in its package to the 2013 state Legislature a proposed amendment to Act 204, which was passed in 2008 and mandates new homes to be retrofitted with solar water energy systems.

A similar request was made in name of council to this year’s Legislature, but it stalled after passing one committee at the state Senate.

The state law allows a few variances based on: high-cost over the system’s life cycle, poor solar resource, existence of other renewable energy source and a choice to install tankless gas water heater, given that the home has at least one other appliance equipped with gas.

Since the law went into effect Jan. 1, 2010, this last variance has allowed 210 out of the 320 homes built on Kaua‘i to be equipped with tankless gas water heaters rather than solar water heaters. Those 210 homes amount to more than 65 percent of homes built on Kaua‘i.

Councilwoman Nadine Nakamura said she would support the request, but with reservations. Her reasoning was that there is insufficient data to make good decisions.

No one talked to any of those 210 homeowners who chose to use the variance, said Nakamura, adding that the request made on behalf of all those homeowners came from less than 10 people.

Rather than “demonize” those who chose the variance, the council should have a talk and try to understand their reasons, she said, because if the council’s request “doesn’t pass the Legislature, we are stuck with this problem.”

The request to HSAC, initiated by Yukimura, was nearly defeated by the council on Aug. 22. It only survived because Council Chair Jay Furfaro cast the last vote in favor of it, so the council’s decision would be a tie at 3-3 (Councilman KipuKai Kuali‘i was absent due to illness). The tie prompted the request to be reposted as a special order of the day Wednesday, when all council members were present.

The amendment preserves the variance, but it proposes to make it mandatory that those applying for the variance would have to be those who will “ultimately control the energy consumption cost,” and that as part of the application, the applicant has to sign an affidavit that he/she will be the “buyer-owner” of the new house and that he/she has read a flyer issued by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism showing comparisons of the life cycle cost of a solar water heater and tankless gas water heater. Rapozo, who had been strongly opposed to the request, said the amendment addressed his concerns regarding freedom of choice. Nakamura also said Yukimura’s amendment addressed her concerns.

Nikon Coolpix P7700 Hands-on

Nikon revamps its flagship enthusiast digital camera with the Coolpix P7700. The new design loses some of its predecessor's distinctiveness, lopping off the top, but it also looks less like its main competitor as a result. The Nikon P7700's sensor also steps up from a 10-megapixel CCD to a 12-megapixel CMOS sensor, and upgrades to a new left-hinged vari-angle screen. Though the lens is still 7.1x (ranging from 28-200mm), it's brighter, starting at f/2, moving to f/4 at full telephoto.

Nikon says the larger, brighter lens left less room for the optical viewfinder, so deleting it was the natural choice, rather than increasing the vertical size. The resulting camera is a little easier to slip into a camera bag alongside your SLR. Some will miss the optical viewfinder, but when you have a 7x zoom, they're far from practical anyway, with noticeable parallax and poor accuracy. I will not miss it; others will. Nikon says there's no plan to offer an electronic viewfinder, nor a hot-shoe-mounted optical viewfinder either.

Not only is the optical viewfinder gone, the Nikon P7700 also has no rectangular mask around the optic, which also means the built-in lens shutters are no more, replaced by a lens cap. The lack of a lens-ring release button also means P7100 lens adapters likely won't work with the P7700.

Microphone holes are now roughly centered in front of the hot shoe. The Sub-command dial has moved to a new position on top of the ample, rubbery grip. Although I liked the old position, this is just fine too. The dial is angled forward just right for comfortable activation. Other elements, like the Function button, AF-assist lamp, and infrared remote port, are in the same positions as on the P7100.

Despite being chopped flat, the top deck looks most familiar. The pop-up flash is tucked more discretely inside the confines of the top panel, maintaining a cleaner rangefinder look from the front. The Mode dial adds one new mode: Movie Custom Scene Mode. The dial is a little loose for my taste, but it's inset well enough that it's unlikely to turn accidentally in a bag. As for the rest, it's the essentially the same.

Note the LED set between the Power button and the Exposure compensation dial: It only shines when the dial is set to a position other than 0. That means even if the EV dial is adjusted accidentally while the camera is in a bag or pocket, powering the camera on will illuminate the LED, warning you that exposure adjustment is active. Nice. The Quick menu dial's LED also lights up when you press the dial's center button, but that's not quite as important, as you have to look at the rear LCD screen to make menu changes.

Now's a good time to point out that there are six dials on the Nikon P7700, three for quick access to important settings and three for adjustments to key photographic controls. Most of them have good, firm detents, but are still easy enough to turn when you want to. The rear Command dial is moved over a bit from its predecessor, leaving more room for the thumb, a welcome change. The rubber thumbpad shrunk a bit, but the rather pronounced ramp slides in to assist. And the pop-up flash now releases with a sliding switch rather than a button.

Finally, the articulating LCD is considerably more useful, not just tilting up and down, but swinging out to face forward or downward.

Interestingly, if you face the screen inward toward the body, the camera's power button is disabled (at least it was on the prototype we saw). Because you can't frame images without the LCD thanks to the lack of an optical viewfinder, this is a decent use of this screen mode; not only does it protect the screen, it prevents the camera from powering on while in a bag.

Is plasma a good pick?

I looked at some LCD and LED-LCD models but wasn't impressed. The picture was bright and clear, but had a bit of a graininess or harshness that is hard to describe, but which I didn't like compared to the plasma. The plasma looked natural and realistic and was more pleasing to the eye. Is my perception typical, or I am doing something wrong with the LCD TV's picture settings?

If I go with plasma, I plan on staying with Panasonic. Do you think it is worth the difference to get the VT50 model over the GT50 model? Finally, I have heard about OLED TVs being the best, though expensive. Is it worth the wait to get an OLED model, and when do you think they will be available at affordable prices comparable to today's televisions?

I'll start with your last questions first, regarding OLED TV. OLED stands for Organic Light-Emitting Diode and is thought to be the Holy Grail of television technology because of its thinness, incredible picture quality and low power consumption.

The first mass produced OLED TVs are set to be launched during the second half of this year. The LG 55EM9600 and Samsung ES9500 will be 55-inches in size and projected to sell for around $9,000. When asked when the price point will drop to the levels we see for today's LCD and plasma TVs, the industry response has been, "Years away." It was "years away" five years ago, so it could be a good while before we see a big OLED TV selling for around $1,000.

Your perception of the difference between plasma, LCD and LED-LCD is spot on. Most videophiles prefer plasma for the natural, realistic picture, and some of the latest models even have antireflective front panels that make them work very well even in bright rooms. I myself can appreciate a good LCD TV and have a small one in my dining room, but if you want the best picture, plasma is king.

It is hard to quantify whether the VT50 is worth more than the GT50 because the answer will vary according to the buyer. The VT50 is the best plasma technology Panasonic has to offer. The VT50 has Panasonic's Infinite Black Ultra plasma panel, an upgrade over the Infinite Black Pro panel of the GT50. The VT50 also has an ISF calibration mode for tweaking the picture to perfection. Otherwise the specifications are very similar.

There is about a $600 price difference between the 55-inch GT50 and the 55-inch VT50. You are comparing two of the best televisions, so you will be thrilled with whichever you purchase. Given that you are a self-proclaimed home entertainment buff, I would go for the VT50. That way you will know you have the best and never second-guess yourself. Panasonic's ST50 plasmas are great as well and sell for even less then the GT50, making them perfect for quality-minded shoppers on a budget.

Osram’s low-profile Mini Midled 850nm infrared LED claims highest radiant intensity

Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH of Regensburg, Germany says that its new infrared Mini Midled is only 0.9mm high but produces a narrow and intense beam of infrared light. With radiant intensity of 60 milliwatts per steradian (mW/sr) at a drive current of 100mA, it is claimed to outperform other comparable devices. The low-profile surface-mountable emitter particularly suits proximity sensors in devices where space is limited and for light barriers.

Picture: Osram Mini Midled’s narrow intense light beams offer zero crosstalk, suiting light barriers and proximity sensors.

Osram Opto says that in many sensor applications it is not only the optical power of an emitter that is important but also whether the available light is widely spread or concentrated in a narrow high-power beam, characterized by the half-angle. The radiant intensity (in watts per steradian) indicates the optical power within a solid angle and hence defines the intensity of the emitted light beam.

The Mini Midled’s emission half-angle is just 17°, producing a narrow light beam and a radiant intensity of 60mW/sr at 100mA by focusing the light with a metalized reflector integrated into the device. The new infrared LED offers a high output despite its small dimensions of just 2.3mm x 1.95mm x 0.9mm.

The Mini Midled is the second SMT device from Osram Opto in MID (molded interconnected device) technology, following the 1.6mm-high Midled. Due to new package technologies, Osram has managed to reduce the total height of the new infrared emitter to less than 1mm, but the new device can still be processed in the usual way.

Small and powerful infrared diodes with a wavelength of 850nm, such as the low-profile narrow-beam Mini Midled, offer major benefits in applications where there is little space but where high radiant intensity is needed, says the firm. Typical applications include light barriers, smart phones and optical touch screens.

“The low-profile Mini Midled is particularly suitable as an emitter for proximity sensors in smart phones and similar devices because it takes up very little space and yet delivers high power,” says marketing manager Bianka Schnabel. “Thanks to its sophisticated design, it also considerably reduces optical crosstalk, so no optical shielding is required, which makes life easier for designers,” she adds.

Proximity sensors are a combination of an emitter and a detector. The emitter illuminates an approaching object, and the light reflected from the object is received by the detector. For proximity sensors to operate properly it is crucial that no light from the emitter reaches the detector directly (crosstalk). This is precisely what often happens with devices that are not equipped with a metalized reflector, notes Osram Opto. However, with the Mini Midled there is no need for shielding and the overall design is much simpler, the firm claims.

Brighter days, savings for businesses that upgrade to LEDs

That familiar thought bubble with a light bulb in it, long used to illustrate someone having a bright idea, probably needs to be updated. To reflect current trends, the iconic incandescent bulb should be replaced with an LED bulb.

Many Bainbridge Island businesses have done just that by taking advantage of a Puget Sound Energy program, and they are reaping significant savings on their electric bills.

PSE offers a rebate program that allows participating businesses to buy LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs at steeply discounted prices, and to get certain kinds of bulbs free.

North Coast Electric of Seattle, under a contractual arrangement with PSE, has done a lot of the lighting upgrades, providing the LED bulbs to the businesses and collecting the rebate.

“We count how many fixtures they have, … and list how many and what type of bulbs they need on the (rebate) form,” explained John Brubeck, an energy efficiency specialist for North Coast Electric. The business then pays the discounted price for the LED bulbs, which use far fewer watts to provide the same amount of light as the conventional bulbs ― incandescents or compact fluorescents ― that are replaced.

Basic LED bulbs called “A lamps” are free, and the other available bulbs cost the business $1 to $15 apiece.

“They are hugely discounted,” Brubeck said, so the payback period for the initial investment is short.

“If a business operates 365 days a year, for 12 hours a day, paying 7 to 8 cents per kilowatt hour,” he said, “every reduction of 40 watts is going to mean about $1 per lamp per month off their electric bill.

“The payback is really really quick.”

He said the Northwest Design Center in Poulsbo recently bought more than 500 bulbs, replacing 65-watt halogen lamps with 9-watt LEDs.

“So they’re going to see more than $1 per lamp savings each month,” Brubeck said.

Mike Loudon is the third owner of this bakery that opened 27 years ago as an original tenant in Winslow Green, the first retail/residential complex on Bainbridge Island.

A longtime food marketing executive with Snokist before he bought the business seven years ago, Loudon said the affordable switchover to LEDs “has been an amazing thing for us.”

“We swapped out almost $2,000 worth of LED bulbs,” he said. “We changed out everything in the front of the bakery.”

He corroborated Brubeck’s estimate, saying his business is realizing about “a buck a bulb” in savings on their electricity costs.

“In a year, we think there’s going to be at least $2,000 in savings,” said Loudon, who heard about the program from a friend at North Coast Electric who used to be on the local Chamber of Commerce board.

“They’ll also be able to use our location to show people how good (the lighting upgrade) is,” the affable baker said.

Although he noted that “the quality of the light is a little different, it’s a little bluer than the old lights,” Loudon is pleased that his business is “greener” by using LEDs, and saving money in the deal.