Stay Tuned For Professor Herb Gross (MIT)

We hope that you will enjoy the Calculus and Differential Equations lectures that we will post here. Coming soon this Summer will be our Math Camp. Details to follow. Thanks, Math Excellence 626.618.3815

Astronomers Delight!

This video is fabulous.

Atacama Starry Nights: Episode I from Babak Tafreshi on Vimeo.

Hitler Does Calculus!

Rubic Cube Solved In 5.3 Seconds

A robotic machine, controlled by an Android smartphone, claims it can solve a Rubik's cube faster than any human. Check out the video above for a proof of concept. It's pretty amazing to see.
More on how the contraption works from a post on YouTube:
The app uses the phone's camera to capture images of each face of the Rubik's Cube which it processes to determine the scrambled colours. The solution is found using an advanced two-phase algorithm, originally developed for Speedcuber, enhanced to be multi-threaded to make effective use of the smartphone's dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 1.2GHz processor. The software finds an efficient solution to the puzzle which is optimised specifically for the capabilities of the four-grip mechanism. The app communicates via Bluetooth with software running on the ARM microprocessors in the LEGO NXT Intelligent Bricks which controls the motors driving the robot. During the physical solve, the app uses OpenGL ES on the phone's ARM Mali-400 MP GPU to display a graphical version of the cube being solved in real time.
For comparison, here's a video of a super-fast human, who solves the puzzle in 5.66 seconds, compared to the "Cubestormer II's" 5.35 seconds:

Around The World On The ISS

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

Electric Vehicles

The EV Project is the largest deployment of electric vehicles and charge infrastructure in history.

In 2009, the Department of Energy granted over $99 million dollars to Ecotality to embark on the EV Project. Sullivan Solar Power's Electric Vehicle Team is working with Ecotality and Chevy through SPX to deploy electric vehicle charging stations at homes, business and municipalities in San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange County.

In June 2010, the Project was granted an additional $15 million by the U.S. Department of Energy. With partner contributions, the total value of the Project is over $200 million.

Sullivan Solar Power's Electric Vehicle Team will deploy chargers across Southern California. Chevrolet and Nissan North America are partners in The EV Project. Both Chevrolet Volt and Nissan LEAF drivers who qualify to participate in The EV Project will receive a residential charger at no cost. In addition, most, if not all of the installation cost, will be paid for by The EV Project.

The EV Project will collect and analyze data to characterize vehicle use in diverse topographic and climatic conditions, evaluate the effectiveness of charge infrastructure, and conduct trials of various revenue systems for commercial and public charge infrastructures. The ultimate goal of The EV Project is to take the lessons learned from the deployment of these first 8,300 EVs, and the charging infrastructure supporting them, to enable the streamlined deployment of the next 5,000,000 EVs.

In 2010, charging infrastructure will be deployed in the following major population areas: Phoenix (AZ), Tucson (AZ), San Diego (CA), San Francisco (CA), Los Angeles (CA), Portland (OR), Eugene (OR), Salem (OR), Corvallis (OR), Seattle (WA), Nashville (TN), Knoxville (TN), Memphis (TN) and Chattanooga (TN), Washington D.C., Dallas (TX), Fort Worth (TX), and Houston (TX).

The EV Project will qualify 8,300 LEAF and Volt customers for participation based upon home electrical power capabilities. Because a significant amount of vehicle charging will take place at EV driver residences, a portion of The EV Project funding supports home charging units, or more correctly called “Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment” (EVSE).

Participants will receive the home EVSE and up to a $1200 credit toward the installation in exchange for allowing the collection of vehicle and charge information at home and publicly available EVSE. This information will include data from both the vehicle and the EVSE, such as energy used and time and duration of charger use. No personal information will be shared or included in the data to be analyzed.

Charging your Electric Vehicle with Sullivan Solar Power

Powering your plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) provides substantial savings over purchasing gas. Consumer incentives are also making the purchase of an electric vehicle and home fast-charging station more affordable and attractive.

Filling up a PEV only costs a few cents per mile, versus an average of 20 cents per mile for gasoline per gallon. If the average American drives less than 40 miles a day, it will cost about $2 - $2.50 a day for electricity (depending on the vehicle).

You can go even cheaper with solar electricity, and know that you are fueling your vehicle with clean energy, as opposed to switching one fossil fuel for another (gasoline for coal powered electricity.

Fueling Your Vehicle - Gas Vs. Utility Electricity Vs. Solar Electricity

Gas Powered Avg. Miles Per Day: 40 Cost per Day:  $8.00 Cost per Month:  $243.20 Cost per Year:  $2,918.40 Avg. Cost per Mile:  $0.20

Utility Electricity Powered Avg. Miles Per Day: 40 Cost per Day:  $2.51 Cost per Month:  $76.30 Cost per Year:  $915.60 Avg. Cost per Mile:  $0.06

Solar Electricity Powered Avg. Miles Per Day: 40 Cost per Day:  $1.48 Cost per Month:  $44.99 Cost per Year:  $539.90 Avg. Cost per Mile:  $0.04

*Figures are based on an assumption of $4 per gallon gasoline and $0.20 per kWh average electricity rate

The average commuter will be saving about $2,000 per year in fuel costs by switching to a electric powered vehicle.

If you charge your electric vehicle with solar power, you save an additional 40% off the average utility electricity rate. It costs about $0.20 per mile to fuel the typical gas-powered vehicle ($4 per gallon), while it only costs $0.06 per mile to fuel the typical electric vehicle ($1.20 per gallon).

This is why thousands of homeowners with electric vehicles have installed solar energy systems to charge their vehicles, and often times the rest of their home as well.

Go Solar!

Solar Power is Proven Reliable Technology

Solar power is the energy generated by solar panels when sunlight shines upon a solar cell. Solar panels generate DC power that then is converted to AC power by an inverter. The output of the inverter, in turn, feeds the building it is connected to. Depending on site specifics and the amount of solar panels installed, a solar power system can generate up to 100% of a structure's energy needs. As a result, it is possible for the owner of a property to effectively eliminate his energy bill and in doing so help the environment by reducing power plant emissions. In one minute enough energy falls from the sky to power the world for an entire year. It is time to harness this energy

Solar Photovoltaic Technology is not new. Silicon based solar modules were originally made commercially viable in the United States by Bell Laboratories in the 50’s. Solar power systems were originally used by small remote electric loads where it was not practical to bring in utility lines. Solar panels were also used to fuel space exploration as the United States entered the space race. It is interesting to note that the original silicon based solar modules had conversion efficiencies of 6%. Today silicon based solar panels have efficiencies as high as 22%. So in approximately 60 years efficiencies have increased by an average rate of approximately 2.6% per decade. Silicon solar modules have a theoretical maximum efficiency of 25 to 30%. Some of the modules installed in the 60’s and 70’s are still in operation today.