Buget cuts and military expenses

Today I'll do some comparison between the proposed GOP 2011 budget cuts, and the military expenditures of the last 10 years. The GOP proposed budget cuts are based on yearly budget, so when they say $30M (millions) cut on the first item on the list, Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies, that is for 1 year.
To put things in perspective, I calculated how long it took our military in Afghanistan and Iraq to spend the same amount of money. $30M is 2 hours of war. In this case, the GOP is basically proposing to cut the Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies funds for one year, in order to pay back just 2 hours of war.
There are a total of 70 items. Here are the one that saddened me the most:

• Economic Development Assistance = 57 minutes of war. Great choice in a time of recession.
  
• National Drug Intelligence Center = 39 minutes of war. We don't have a drug problem in this country ...
  
• Juvenile Justice = 9 minutes of war. Just 9 minutes of war!
  
• NSF = 9 hours. Science has never served this country.
  
• Food Safety and Inspection Services = 4 hours of war. Haw we never had food contaminations in this country.
  
• WIC = 2 days of war. Wicked! If you can't raise a kid on your own, don't have one...
  
• Family planning = 20 hours of war ... and you can't use birth control either! That goes well with the item above!
  
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services = 6 hours of war. We REALLY don't have a drug problem in this country.

Anyway, here is the full list, enjoy!

1. Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies: 30 M$ = 2 Hours
2. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: 899 M$ = 3 Days
3. Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability: 49 M$ = 3 Hours
4. Nuclear Energy: 169 M$ = 10 Hours
5. Fossil Energy Research: 31 M$ = 2 Hours
6. Clean Coal Technology: 18 M$ = 2 Hours
7. Strategic Petroleum Reserve: 15 M$ = 53 Minutes
8. Energy Information Administration: 34 M$ = 3 Hours
9. Office of Science: 1100 M$ = 3 Days
10. Power Marketing Administrations: 52 M$ = 4 Hours
11. Department of Treasury: 268 M$ = 16 Hours
12. Internal Revenue Service: 593 M$ = 2 Days
13. Treasury Forfeiture Fund: 338 M$ = 20 Hours
14. GSA Federal Buildings Fund: 1700 M$ = 5 Days
15. ONDCP: 69 M$ = 5 Hours
16. International Trade Administration: 93 $M = 6 Hours
17. Economic Development Assistance: 16 M$ = 57 Minutes
18. Minority Business Development Agency: 2 M$ = 8 Minutes
19. National Institute of Standards and Technology: 186M$=11Hours
20. NOAA: 336 M$ = 20 Hours
21. National Drug Intelligence Center: 11 M$ = 39 Minutes
22. Law Enforcement Wireless Communications: 52 M$ = 4 Hours
23. US Marshals Service: 10 M$ = 36 Minutes
24. FBI: 74 M$ = 5 Hours
25. State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance: 256 M$ = 16 Hours
26. Juvenile Justice: 2.3 M$ = 9 Minutes
27. COPS: 600 M$ = 2 Days
28. NASA: 379 M$ = 23 Hours
29. NSF: 139 M$ = 9 Hours
30. Legal Services Corporation: 75 M$ = 5 Hours
31. EPA: 1600 M$ = 4 Days
32. Food Safety and Inspection Services: 53 M$ = 4 Hours
33. Farm Service Agency: 201 M$ = 12 Hours
34. Agriculture Research: 246 M$ = 15 Hours
35. Natural Resource Conservation Service: 46 M$ = 3 Hours
36. Rural Development Programs: 237 M$ = 14 Hours
37. WIC: 758 M$ = 2 Days
38. International Food Aid grants: 544 M$ = 2 Days
39. FDA: 220 M$ = 13 Hours
40. Land and Water Conservation Fund: 348 M$ = 21 Hours
41. National Archives and Record Service: 20 M$ = 2 Hours
42. DOE Loan Guarantee Authority: 1400 M$ = 4 Days
43. EPA ENERGY STAR: 7. 4 M$ = 26 Minutes
44. EPA GHG Reporting Registry: 9 M$ = 32 Minutes
45. USGS: 27 M$ = 2 Hours
46. EPA Cap and Trade Technical Assistance: 5 M$ = 18 Minutes
47. EPA State and Local Air Quality Management: 25 M$ = 2 Hours
48. Fish and Wildlife Service: 72 M$ = 5 Hours
49. Smithsonian: 7. 3 M$ = 26 Minutes
50. National Park Service: 51 M$ = 4 Hours
51. Clean Water State Revolving Fund: 700 M$ = 2 Days
52. Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: 250 M$ = 15 Hours
53. EPA Brownfields: 48 M$ = 3 Hours
54. Forest Service: 38 M$ = 3 Hours
55. National Endowment for the Arts: 6 M$ = 22 Minutes
56. National Endowment for the Humanities: 6 M$ = 22 Minutes
57. Job Training Programs: 2000 M$ = 5 Days
58. Community Health Centers: 1300 M$ = 4 Days
59. Maternal and Child Health Block Grants: 210 M$ = 13 Hours
60. Family Planning: 327 M$ = 20 Hours
61. Poison Control Centers: 27 M$ = 2 Hours
62. CDC: 755 M$ = 2 Days
63. NIH: 1000 M$ = 3 Days
64. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services: 96 M$ = 6 Hours
65. LIHEAP Contingency fund: 400 M$ = 24 Hours
66. Community Services Block Grant: 405 M$ = 24 Hours
67. High Speed Rail: 1000 $M = l3 Days
68. FAA Next Gen: 234 M$ = 14 Hours
69. Amtrak: 224 M$ = 14 Hours
70. HUD Community Development Fund: 530 M$ = 2 Days

Estimated solar fraction

Using monthly insolation data, sun angle and collector tilt, it is possible to estimate how much of our home energy needs (based on utility bills) will be provided by the solar system.

The first important data is the solar energy falling on each horizontal square foot, daily average, for each month, in KWh/day/sqft (click on the table or graphic to bring full screen):


Check my earlier post for references on this data.
Sun angle, calculated for the 1rst day of each month, graphical representation, followed by monthly data:



Next we need to calculate the collector sun angle. The ideal collector sun angle is 90°. The graphic shows how the collector sun angle is calculated (example shows June data), and the following table, each monthly value, for a 70° tilt.


Formula is:
Collector Sunangle = 180° - Tilt - Sunangle


The data from the table shows that maximum efficiency (collector sun angle = 90°) is achieve during the winter months, which is the reason of the 70° tilt.

Next, the ratio between horizontal area and collector area is needed to estimate the energy per collector sqft. This ratio is C/A, as represented on the graphic.


Area Ratio = sin(Collector sunangle) / sin(Sunangle)


Here too, the high tilt angle favors the winter months.
From these data, we can calculate the KWh/day per collector sqft:

KWH/day/collector sqft = KWh/day/horizontal sqft * Area ratio.


It is interesting to see how much the variation in monthly insolation is reduced by choosing the right tilt angle (compare the table above to the first table).
Finally, the solar fraction per month, for a 400sqft collector at 48% efficiency (60% from commercial flat plates data, and 80% for the "DIY factor"):


The yearly solar fraction is estimated at 96%.
The same calculation with a 600sqft collector, yields a 100% solar fraction, while a 275sqft yields a 90% solar fraction.
The difference in solar fraction between 350sqft and 400sqft, is only 1%. The December solar fraction goes from 67% (400sqft) to 58% (350sqft).
It seems that the best size is anywhere between 350 and 400sqft.

Final data is the needed collector area per month. This data could be useful if I want to occult part of the collector to avoid overheating. I will try to use a drainback system, but even with drainback, the empty collector exposed to the sun will wear faster than a shaded collector.
Also the 100 or so sqft needed during summer are for hot water needs, so this data is helpful in dimensioning the hot water system alone.