EcoRadio KC is glad to encourage awareness and protection of our world. Our goal is to ensure our listeners are aware of how we can create a sustainable present for a sustainable future! We experience more extreme temperatures because of global energy increase. As we move to the future, it will take all of us to make the world habitable for millennia to come.
Monday, we will hear about how to use the sun to charge your car then use your car to run your house! We will replay our show from July 31, 2025 when host Richard Mabion spoke with Kent Rowe and Jennifer Connelly, owners of that house near Wichita. Kent is an Executive Committee member of the Kansas Chapter of Sierra Club, State Energy Chair, and Conservation Chair of the Wichita Chapter. He is a co-founder of Society of Alternative Resources which was instrumental in garnering an Executive Proclamation establishing City of Wichita’s Sustainability Integration Board. Kent is a frequent writer for the Kansas Chapter of the Sierra Club Waypoints publication and lectures to groups in topics on sustainability, renewable energy, and microgrid electrification.
The use of bidirectional solar collectors is made possible using direct to grid converters, more commonly known as a grid-tie inverters or solar inverters, which convert direct current (DC) electricity from sources like solar panels into alternating current (AC) electricity that matches the voltage and frequency of the electrical grid. This allows the electricity to be used in homes and businesses or sent back to the utility company for credit. For high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission, specialized converter stations are used to step up or step-down voltage for long-distance transport. An inverter is one of the most important pieces of equipment in a solar energy system. It’s a device that converts direct current (DC) electricity, which is what a solar panel generates, to alternating current (AC) electricity, which the electrical grid uses. In direct current, electricity is maintained at constant voltage in one direction. With alternating current electricity, the flow goes in both directions in the circuit as the voltage changes from positive to negative. Inverters are just one example of a class of devices called power electronics that regulate the flow of electrical power…