Happy winter/summer solstice, everybody!
 

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1198299972

My favourite day of the year. The sun is coming back!

(With apologies to our members in the southern hemisphere. :p )

Solstice
 

Solstice! Thank goodness the Sun is going to be around more. Winter weather has been pretty harsh thus far :o

RH77

yeah, I've been looking forward to some light when I go to and FROM work now as well.

I can't wait for it to get bright again.

Before there was such a thing as a Kwanzaa, Christmas, Hanukkah, or Saturnalia, there were winter solstice celebrations. This celebration goes way back into prehistory in the temperate parts of the world celebrating the change from progressively shorter days to the start of progressively longer days and the eventual return of summer. The only technical advance needed for the winter solstice celebration to occur was the creation of a standing stone (or wood) circle so they could pinpoint that shortest day from the rest of the short days flanking it. All of the traditional evergreen vegetation decorations associated with this time of the year originally derived from winter solstice celebrations. The "Christmas" tree originated from the winter solstice celebrations in the Germanic regions of Europe. The holly, ivy, and mistletoe likewise from winter solstice celebrations in Celtic regions (Britain and France)

Basjoos, you are not only an inspiration to aero freaks, but a font of historic ritual trivia too.

I can't help but think that as people first clued in to the progression of the sun through the seasons, they were probably pretty freaked out when they first realized it was "going away" after June 21(ish).

The first solar observation after the winter solstice would have been a massive "PHEW!!" moment ... definitely worthy of celebration.

Winter solstice 2009
 

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1261407814

OK, so it's a Saturn Sky roadster, not a Pontiac Solstice. They're basically the same car though, so close enough!

Not easy to find pictures of Pontiac Solstices in winter conditions...

Today is the day I've been waiting for!
Now, I can see where the house shadows are falling in the backyard..
I'm thinking about the idea post locations for mounting some PV.

Found it! Right there at the peak of the shadow (of the peak) is where I need to dig a hole and plant a big steel post.. (That old dish has got to go)!

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...dwinterday.jpg

Yup, the sun will be coming back around. Unlike the car in the first post!

Which fact should be tattooed on the foreheads of some over-enthusiastic followers of a certain Johnny-come-lately religion, who are wont to go around harping on "the reason for the season" :-)

I WANT MARCH!!!!
I mean, I love winter, especially in the mountains when you see only hardcore hikers, and you sleep in a tent in 3ft of snow @ -22*C. But I'm starting to be like our cat in my old years - more sun, a walk in the garden, yawning and stretching. And I'm not that old!!

Aaaaah, but if the March wind is warm, then it's the bike that gets the beating:)

(OK, twice this past week the bike had go through 10cm of snow in -15*C weather. The worst is the salt they pour on the roads - it just kills my chain.)

You should post a picture of the summer solstice shadow too. When your PV panel is up :)

Saturn Sky convertibles and Pontiac Solstice sports cars....why don't we get those here?
Great pics too by the way.
Never seen a white Christmas but hope to some day.
Merry Winter Solstice to all from the South of the Equator.
Stay safe and see you all in 2010.

Pete.

the solstice.

when a storm comes to maine backwards at 18 degrees and raining. :confused:

If my wife lets me buy the panels!! :eek:

We don't get them here any more either. Cancelled!

Trade you! :) Happy holidays, Pete.

Stay warm Metro MPG.
Just saw you are in Ontario and the on news last night the piece from there was about the storms and blizzards.
We are fighting bush fires here already and the general predictions are the new year will be even worse for that than this one was.

Pete.

Pontiac Winter Solstice pic for 2010...

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1292970288

Another lap around the sun!

It's that time again - solstice celebration for those whose biochemistry seems to include some amount of photosynthesis. :)

I'm not the only Northerner happy to know the sun will be a bit stronger tomorrow than it was yesterday: the photovoltaic battery bank in my shack has been slowly draining over the past couple weeks. The weak sun (and unusually overcast skies since the 3rd week of Nov.) can't even quite keep up with a few hours of laptop usage and minimal lighting (1 or 2 13 watt CFL's!) each day.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1287608511

from...
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post199943

One year later
 

Before:
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...dwinterday.jpg

After:
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...lar/ws2010.jpg

I posted this morning.. :p
Solar Tracker Project - Page 19 - EcoRenovator

Like I said to my wife this afternoon, "Alright! Spring is on it's way"!! :D

Metro, I guess you'd better fire up your human-powered, bicycle based electric generator. Or could you use the ForkenSwift to transport electricity from your grid charger at home to your workshop on cloudy days?

That's right. That's why it's the best day to pick out a spot for mounting your solar panels..

Check out the long shadows in my pics above.. :D

You want long shadows? Here is today's view out of my window at noon:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1293013826

I don't think that I could live that far north.

For sure, my wife wouldn't like Polar bears frolicking in the backyard. :eek:


Instead of solar panels on the roof, you put them on the south facing walls?? :p

My half-sister lives in Anchorage. So, I guess it's possible for a Texan to live
in the far North, because, she seems to like it up there.. :thumbup:

Happy Holidays!

Actually, yes, I've seen it done:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1293017518

Having the Sun this low would be great for solar gain, only that there is only 7h40m from sunrise to sunset today, and even when it does shine (last December during a 3 week period we had a total of 2 hours of direct sunshine) it's only worth something like 200 watts per sq. meter.

Rather weird to see PV panels at 90° angles :confused:

Is that heat-collecting piping along the walls ?

I guess us Bostonians are lucky today..
Sunup 7:11 AM with 9.1 hours of sunlight, then sets at 4:15 PM

I do see a blue spot between the clouds, so we might actually get some sun!

That's a neat looking house. I wish we had some bigger windows facing south.
Until summer that is..

When we first moved into this house in 1973, it had big cloth awnings above each
of the southern & western facing windows.

They only lasted a few more years. We ordered Low-E glass in the replacement
windows, only $20 more per window. But, got plain glass instead..:mad:

After seeing how quick and easy replacement windows go in, I realized
that I should have done the job myself.. And got the glass I wanted..

Yeah, those are evacuated-tube solar collectors doubling as balcony railings. In many designs the tubes can be rotated by a few degrees to slightly compensate for the angle at which the whole array is mounted.

I think northern areas are where vampires like to spend the winter: You get up - it's dark. You leave for work/school - it's still dark. You leave work/school - it's dark. If you know when to look out of a window, then you'll see that sometimes it goes from dark to grey. Sometimes even light grey, light enough for the street lamps to turn off.

On the bright side... (literally) the further north, the brighter (duration if not intensity) the summers!

That's for sure. In the early spring, during my first evening in Bergen Norway,
I was totally amazed when the sun set about 10PM.. I can't imagine midsummer!!

That reminds me of the joke about a policeman questioning suspects of a crime that happened very, very far north (or, more generally, close to one of the poles):
"And please tell me, what were you doing on the night between October 23 and February 21?"

Good one! :D

Another lap around the sun, another solstice. Happy winter solstice, everybody!

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1324568235

I was recently surprised by this solstice trivia:

Question:

On what day of the year does the sun SET earliest?

Answer:

If you said "winter solstice" (as I would have), you'd be wrong! (As I usually am.)

Earliest sunset actually occurs about a week an a half before. Similarly, the latest sunRISE is not on the solstice; it actually happens in early January. But the net shortest day is on the solstice.

Why? Has to do with the interaction of the tilt of the earth plus the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit (closest to the sun in early January, the planet is traveling fastest in this part of its orbit). (e.g. see Why doesn't the latest Sunrise happen at the Winter Solstice ? for info.)

Maybe this was common knowledge, but it blew my mind! :D

Happy Solstice( belated):D. Had I known this thread existed, I would have been here on THE day.

MetroMPG- Funny, I just noticed this very phenomenon while looking at sunrise/sunset times THIS year for hunting season. 44 years, and still learning daily.

Another candle on my cake...

Happy belated!

Next up: Perihelion! (Jan 5)

Thanks for the Wiki link !

Woohoo! Just another 4 months and I'll be able to work on the car outdoors again:)

The sun is awesome :)

The ground is still not staying frozen here. It has been about 5F warmer than average for both November and December.

The light is slowly increasing every day, which is much appreciated.