BQ 'In the Field'

pendulum from BjornQorn on Vimeo

It’s the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. We have variable day length because the Earth is tilted in its rotation. This article in the NYTimes wonders if a tilt like Earth’s is necessary for life elsewhere in the universe. I always feel a mix of relish and sadness on the solstice, because the sun starts heading back to winter just as the summer is beginning. 

Ok so we're no baristas, we're popcornistas. But coffee beans turn out to be perfectly suited for solar thermal cooking. The same kettles used to make popcorn can be used to roast coffee. There are some limitations. It's sort of impossible to observe them as they roast, and smelling them is quite difficult. But we found we could make a tasty medium roast nontheless. It might not be coming down the BjornQorn pike any time soon, but we'll keep investigating.  Beer next?

Long days are here at BjornQorn, and our array is staying well ahead of our demand: we made almost 300% of our popping energy. That means we were able to power other systems in the building, from lighting (all LED as of January, thanks to Lime Energy) to packaging machinery, as well. We will be installing heat pump/AC split units this month, which will extend the season that we can leave our conventional furnace off in the fall and spring, relying instead on solar electricity.