KenClifton.com

Seven Leafs in Salisbury NC!

Ken Clifton — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:25:40 +0000

How often do you see seven (yes 7) electric cars at a dealership in a small town with a population around 30,000?

Seven All-Electric Cars on the Lot in Salisbury, NC

When I was taking these pictures I also learned that the dealership here in Salisbury NC has sold the most Nissan LEAFs in the entire Charlotte district. Consider that with all of Charlotte in the mix too.

Another view of seven LEAFs

Our small city with the 10th worst air in the USA sure needs to see these cars on the road ( according to the American Lung Association, 2011 ). The ozone levels mentioned are a direct result of ground-level car exhaust, which LEAFs don’t produce.

You can email or contact the Salisbury dealership at 704-637-7270 or email their LEAF specialist Kevin Murphy at kmurphy@benmynatt.com
And before you ask or comment, I received NO COMPENSATION for posting this. My sole interest in doing this is to have better air to breathe for my family! We do practice what we preach, owning two LEAFs ourselves!

Speaking at Dan Nicholas Park Simple Living Festival (Earth Day)

Ken Clifton — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:18:31 +0000

I am giving a presentation on Saturday, May 5th at Dan Nicholas Park from 11AM until Noon on the Ins and Outs of Solar Energy!

Stop in and say hi if you have time. We’ll be in the Nature Auditorium. Admission is free.

Thanks for Attending “the Basics of Solar Electric Generation” Today at RCCC

Ken Clifton — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 01:41:30 +0000

Thanks to all who attended the Basics of Solar Electric Generation today at RCCC!
We had a really good turnout!
If you missed it, sorry! This is likely my last solar class of the year!

My presentation is attached. (click to view)

Thanks for Studying Solar Thermal @ RCCC Today !

Ken Clifton — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:19:32 +0000

Thank you to everyone who attended “The Basics of Solar Thermal” class today at RCCC !Don’t forget the Solar Electric Generation Class next Friday, April 20th from 2-4 PM.See the previous posts (below) for more information.Walk-in(s) on April 20th are permitted, but please register
to ensure the class gets run!
The link for class content is below the photo

As promised, a PDF of the class material is attached to this text (click to download).

Thanks for “Going Green” at RCCC Today!

Ken Clifton — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 01:29:49 +0000

It was really neat to see three all-electric cars at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College today for the “Bright Ideas for Going Green” class! And don’t forget, we have a solar thermal and solar electric generation class in April — see the previous posts here.

Three 100 Percent Electric Cars at RCCC Today

We had some really good students in the class, including a CEO of a local Salisbury Company and some really sharp folks from Duke Energy!

My presentation is attached as an Acrobat PDF document! (click to view)

List of Items Mentioned in the Going Green Class (click to view)

Thanks to all who attended!

Items Mentioned in Going Green Seminar

Ken Clifton — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 01:28:25 +0000

Description with link (click to view)	Est Cost
Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor	$ 19.99
TED 5000G Energy Monitoring System	$ 199.95
FLIR i7 Thermal Imaging Camera	$ 1,995.00
BIOMASS 100,000 BTU Forced-Air Furnace	$ 4,000.00 approx
Reflectix 48-Inch-by-50ft foil/bubble/foil Radiant Barrier	$ 97.99
TekFoil 48 inch wide kraft/reflective foil Perforated Radiant Barrier 250 feet	$ 172.13

Solar Panels Plus (solar thermal collector)

Colorado Solar / Solar Panel Store

Enphase Energy (micro-inverters)
Quadrafire Pellet Insert Heating Appliance	$ 4,100.00 approx.
Leviton Evr-Green 160 Level 2 EV Charging Station, (16 amp)	$ 979.75
GE WattStation Level 2 EV Charging Sation (30 amp)	$ 1,099.
Legrand Electric Vehicle Charging Station (16 amp)	$ 749.00
Schneider Electric Vehicle Charging Station (30 amp)	$ 799.00
EVSEUpgrade – Upgrade the Leaf Portable Charger to L2 (16 amp) support for Chevy Volt too	$ 239.00
Nissan Leaf Electric Car Page

One Month of Zero Gas, All Electric Driving with CarWings and a Leaf

Ken Clifton — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 23:24:20 +0000

I just finished my first full month of zero gas, all electric driving!
It has been a blast. Lets just say the Leaf will take any gas vehicle at a stop light too .

The CarWings(tm) service that comes with the Leaf creates a lot of very interesting data. I am pasting several screen shots so you can see what I mean. This is good stuff!

Monthly Total Electricity Usage for My Nissan Leaf

So, CarWings(tm) reports that I used 129 kWh of electricity to drive the entire month of February charging it every night from my General Electric Wattstation. If I were buying all the electricity to run the car, it would have cost around $14.19 for the *entire* month. That assumes 0.11 cents per kWh. Just fyi, our solar electric system generated 593 kWh in February, so you can see that we covered the electricity used by my Leaf and my wife’s Leaf both using solar (and then some).

The EcoTree Rankings

CarWings Summary Data for My Nissan Leaf

Our Second Leaf

Ken Clifton — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:38:44 +0000

I picked up our second all electric 2012 Nissan Leaf on Saturday, January 28. It was definitely worth waiting for. Kevin Murphy of Ben Mynatt Nissan on the right sold both Leafs. The first Cayenne Red 2012 went to my wife, Kat, and the Ocean Blue 2012 SL shown is my new baby. It is absolutely the best car that I have ever driven! My first charge at home using the GE Wattstation was a sunny Sunday afternoon. The entire first charge came from 100 percent solar energy! I drove to work Monday on sunshine for free

Nissan would say: “What is the value of zero?…” see the video:

Power Your Home from a Leaf

Ken Clifton — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:46:57 +0000

Nissan is reported to be working on a home adapter to allow a Leaf EV to provide power to a home, according to (click to read stories referenced) [Bloomberg and PC World via Consumer Reports]

So perhaps sometime this year our Leafs could stand in as a generator!

Any RV Park or Campground is a Charging Station

Ken Clifton — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:39:50 +0000

It occurred to me a while back that with a portable or plug-connected Level-2 charger, such as the Leviton Evr-Green 160, any RV Park could be a charging station for an electric vehicle. This really increases the coverage for someone with a portable station.

Apparently, someone else has thought of this too. Read the story at: http://www.autointhenews.com/rv-parks-double-as-ev-charging-stations/