POLYTHECHNIC UNIVERSITY

OF TIRANA
CIVIL ENGINEERING FACULTY

PROJECT:

TECHNOLOGY, FOR HUMANS AND NATURE

PRESENTATOR: ERJON OBANI

ACCEPTED: ANJEZA BRAHJA
 INTRODUCTION

1) FINALLY! SOLAR POWER,EASY TO USE.

2) NOTHING BETTER THEN WIND.

3) WATER GIVES MORE BENEFITS.

4) IMPROVING BUILDINGS MEANS

IMPROVING OURSELVES.

NET-ZERO BUILDINGS!
CONSUME AND SAVE ENERGY?
HUNGRY? NOT ANY MORE!
THIRSTY? WE HAVE THE SOLUTION!

5) THE FUTURE? WHY NOT LIVING INSIDE

PYRAMIDS!!!

THE SHIMIZU MEGA-CITY PYRAMID

SOLAR POWER NEVER ENDS

If you have read the article How Solar Cells Work, you have a basic understanding of solar-cell

technology. A solar yard light uses standard solar cells in a very straightforward application.

A single solar cell produces a maximum of 0.45 volts and a varying amount of current depending

on the size of the cell and the amount of light striking the surface. In a typical yard light,

therefore, you need four cells wired in series. In this yard light, the four cells will produce 1.8

volts and a maximum of about 100 milliamps in full, bright sunlight.

The solar cells are wired directly to the battery through a diode(which prevents the battery's

current from flowing back through the solar cell at night). The battery is a completely standard

AANicad battery. A battery like this produces about 1.2 volts and can store a maximum of

approximately 700 milliamp-hours. During the day, the battery charges, reaching maximum

charge except on shorter winter days or days when there is heavy overcast.

At night, the solar cells stop producing power. The photoresistor turns on the LED.How do the

streetlights turn on automatically at night, shows you a very simple circuit using a transistor and

a relay to control a light using a photoresistor. In the case of this light, the relay is replaced by

two other transistors.

The controller board accepts power from the solar cell and battery, as well as input from the
photoresistor. It has a three-transistor circuit that turns on theLED when the photoresistor

indicates darkness.

The LED draws about 45 milliamps with the battery producing about 1.23 volts (0.055 watts). It

produces about half of the light that a candle would. The Nicad battery, when fully charged, can

operate the LED for about 15 hours.

Half of a candle's light is not very much, and if you have ever purchased one of these yard lights

you know that it really is not enough to provide illumination. You use them more for marking a

trail -- they are bright enough to see, but not really bright enough to illuminate the ground to any

great degree.
The reason why these lights are so expensive right now is because of the solar cells and, to a

lesser degree, the Nicad battery. Solar cells remain expensive because they are manufactured

from silicon crystals in cleanroom conditions. They are much less expensive than they were 10

or 20 years ago, but still fairly pricey. As a result, solar yard lights cost $10 to $20 per light.

The yard light shown here uses a single LED. More expensive lights may offer a combination of

an LED and a small halogen flashlight bulb. The LED is on all the time, and the light bulb turns

on for a minute or two when a motion sensor detects movement.

WIND POWER, IT BLOWS YOU AWAY

The benefits of wind

energy are that its virtually free (once you buy the equipment) and there is no pollution. The

disadvantages include the fact it isnt a consistent source (the speed varies and many times it is

insufficient to generate electricity) and it typically requires about one acre of land.

Usually, wind speeds increase as you get higher above the Earth. Due to this, the conventional

windmill is installed on a tower no less than 30 feet above obstructions. There are two basic

types of towers employed for residential wind power systems (free standing and guyed).
Free standing towers are self supporting and are usually heavier which means they take special

equipment to erect them. Guyed towers are supported on a concrete base and anchored by wires

for support. They typically are not as heavy and most manufacturers produce tilt down models

which is often easily raised and lowered for maintenance.

The kinetic (moving energy) from the winds is harnessed by a device termed as turbine. This

turbine includes airfoils (blades) that capture the power of the wind and use it to turn the shaft of

an alternator (like you have on a car only bigger).

WATER SOLUTION EVEN FOR ENERGY

Wouldn't it be nice if we could generate clean power from rivers ? That's what Verdant Power is

trying to do with its free flow turbines (which we've covered in the past: "Lunar Power" comes to

New York and NBC Coverage of Wave and Tidal Power).

The Cornwall Ontario River Energy Project - 15 Megawatts

The province of Ontario is investing $2.2 million into a project to demonstrate the feasibility and

commercial viability of using free flow turbines to harness some of the St. Lawrence River's

kinetic energy and turn it into electricity. This project is for 15 megawatts, enough to power

11,000 average-sized homes, but Verdant estimates that "there is enough potential power in the

water currents of Canadas tides, rivers and manmade channels to generate 15,000 MW of

electricity using its technology". That would be about the equivalent of 15 big coal power plants.

But we have to wonder... Did they pick Cornwall just because they could make a really cool

acronym? The Cornwall Ontario River Energy (CORE) Project.

 How Does a Free Flow

Underwater Turbine Work?Very simply, it works like a wind turbine, but the blades are moved

by a water current instead of by the wind. "The turbine blades rotate slowly allowing fish to pass

through safely with minimal environmental impact." Of course, the impact won't be zero, but if

we consider that Ontario is currently getting a good amount of its power from coal plants, this

definitely looks like a step in the right direction.

One key difference with wind turbines is that free flow hydro turbines are not visible, so the "not

in my backyard" (NIMBY) attitude shouldn't be a problem. Another benefit over wind power is

that hydro delivers power more predictably.

 Tidal Power in the East River in

New York CityThese free flow turbines can also be used to harness tidal currents, as was shown

with the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project (pdf) in New York City's East River. There,

Verdant Power has installed its 5-meter, 35-kilowatt models. The first 6-turbine array is already

working, and when completed (100-300 turbines), the project should generated 10 megawatts of

power, enough for 8,000 homes.

The Future of Free Flow Hydropower Turbines

It's probably still too early to know how cost-competitive this technology will be. What

we do know is that there won't be a clean energy silver bullet, so it is important to keep

improving in that area even if other types of renewable energies are ahead right now (wind, solar,

and even wave power).

NEW BUILDINGS AIM TO PRODUCE
ENERGY, NOT CONSUME IT

A few years ago in central Florida, John

Santarpia had an idea. He was the president and
CEO of a credit union and felt he needed to do
something to improve its image.

"We're a medium-sized credit union and there's a

lot of competition," Santarpia said. "We wanted
to stand out."

He and his colleagues had found a lot in Lakeland, a city of about 100,000 residents, with an ice
cream shop on it. Knowing the community wouldn't be in favor of losing the ice cream shop,
Santarpia decided to build a flagship building for his credit union around it. Whatever it was, he
wanted to make it green. What resulted was the state's first commercial net-zero-energy building.

"Financial institutions often times are hesitant to try something new," said Tim Hoeft, a
sustainable designer at Straughn Trout Architects, which designed the building.

The difference is that Santarpia was interested in new technology and was attracted by the fact
that there were no net-zero commercial buildings in Florida yet, Hoeft said. Santarpia wanted his
to be the first.

Although it is still loosely defined, net-zero usually means a building that produces as much
energy as is consumed. The Department of Energy's website lists eight net-zero-energy
commercial buildings up and running in the country. Most are small and in mild-
weather environments. But the DOE number could be misleading because it relies on owners to
voluntarily submit their building's information. At the New Buildings Institute, Technical
Director Mark Frankel estimates the real number could be closer to 25, with about 50 more in
construction.

Santarpia's building is among those not listed by the DOE. Through the construction and
rebranding process, the credit union's name changed from Community First to Magnify, in part
to reflect a new, green identity. The decision to make the building net-zero evolved on its own.
First, Santarpia and his colleagues looked into certifying the building under the U.S. Green
Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. Once they figured
out how to do that, they looked into putting solar panels on the roof.

"Then we asked, 'How many solar panels would it take to go net-zero?'" he said.

During construction, Santarpia sought help from local design and construction professionals as
well as the local utility company. They ended up with a rectangular-shaped building with just
over 4,000 square feet of space, high ceilings and an upward-sloping roof. It opened in August
2009.

The building combines control systems with its "double

roof" concept. Its top layer of solar panels shades it from
direct heat gain. The space between the roof layers, along
with its slope, helps the hot air convect, or rise and disperse,
instead of raising the temperature in the building.

Solar panels on the roof generate energy, although the building still
draws from the grid when it needs to. Other energy-saving mechanisms include using Energy
Star-labeled appliances, using equipment to shade the inside from Florida's hot sun and applying
high-performance insulation to further reduce solar heat gain. A utility bill in October of last year
confirmed the net-zero claim when it found that the building was generating more power than it
was using. Forty-five percent of the energy produced in the panels goes back into the grid.

One side of the credit union building lies 3 inches from the ice cream shop, with a window
peeking into it. Sometimes, people can buy ice cream right there.

The ice cream shop's energy consumption isn't included in Magnify's utility bill.

Net-zero has potential in a booming industry

In theory, at least, there is a big pot of money that entrepreneurs with net-zero ambitions can
draw from. Each year, more than $600 billion is spent on new construction and renovation of
commercial buildings, according to the Commercial Buildings Consortium (CBC). But adding
the technology to commercial buildings -- which use 40 percent of the country's energy and make
up 40 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions -- is a challenge.
Last month, President Obama announced the Better Buildings Initiative, which sets a target to
improve commercial buildings energy efficiency by 20 percent over the next decade.

Depending on how they're defined, net-zero-energy buildings may take what Obama envisions
one step further. Usually, net-zero refers to buildings that don't use any more energy than they
produce. Once the buildings are running, they must meet the energy rules set before construction
to stay true to the net-zero claim.

Two reports released last month by the CBC detail ways for new buildings to achieve net-zero-
energy status.

The CBC, an umbrella organization that includes more than 430 organizations representing
commercial building interests, says no formal definition exists for net-zero. Both reports lay out
a "directional goal" to get there. One focuses on technology barriers, while the other looks into
market barriers like building codes and standards.

Jeffrey Harris, senior vice president for programs at the Alliance to Save Energy, says that the
magnitude people are talking about for net-zero is an 80 percent reduction of energy
consumption from today's levels.

A net-zero building should be relatively thin, H-shaped, with courtyards, high ceilings and access
to natural light, said Harris, who worked on the reports.

Their small, one-story size gives net-zero buildings plenty of daylight. Mild-weather
environments allow them to ease use of air conditioning and heat. It's also hard to put them in
urban environments because shading from nearby buildings will affect natural lighting.

Keep building standards flexible

One unintended consequence of building many of these with the available technology could lead
to a groups of small, low-level buildings spread out in a sprawl. The CBC doesn't want this to
happen.

A way to avoid this would be to be flexible about standards. A new 30-story building may need
10 times as much energy as a three-story building, Harris said, but it could still produce as much
energy on a square-foot basis. That 30-story building may not be self-sufficient, but it would still
save energy.

Harris identifies three immediate areas to help achieve net-zero: integrated design, efficient
control systems and lifetime performance assurances. In other words, a building's design process
must include input from designers at all levels. Its control systems must work together, and it
needs a system to monitor its performance.

Harris describes integrated design as "making sure the new building's team brings in energy
efficiency teams to take account of how changes in one system can affect another."
Diana Lin, a program manager with the National Association of State Energy Officials, said the
process could include lighting designers, engineers, contractors and other "downstream actors."

"Oftentimes, a building owner comes in with an idea and an architect designs it" and it stays at
that, Lin said. What could result is an inability to understand how a building's many different
systems work together. Bringing all levels of designers in at an early stage would give them a
chance to provide input. It would also help developers understand how a building's different
systems interact, Lin said.

The Magnify building, which used a lot of the same building processes later laid out by the CBC
reports, is an ambitious venture for a credit union. The investment in it won't pay for itself for
maybe 15 years. Santarpia said all the press coverage and attention has led to new customers. But
most mid-sized credit unions can't afford to wait that long for money to come back.

Magnify is one of the highest-capital credit unions in its county and has been around for 50 years,
Santarpia said, so it can afford something like this. But he hasn't heard much about the building
from other banks around the area."We don't have the pressure from our stockholders that other
banks have," he said.
NET-ZERO HOMES, MADE FOR ENJOYING LIFE

The US Department of Energy defines Net Zero as a house that is 60-70% more energy efficient
than a model home, and the remaining 30-40% of energy is created with renewables, such as
solar, wind, and geothermal, to bring the energy use to zero.

A net zero home can be on-grid (net metered) or off-grid. Earthships are net zero homes. They
create all their own power as well as harvest their own water and deal with their own waste
products. This is truly net zero, but probably not suitable for the average homeowner.
How to build a Net Zero home

The road to net zero is to first design a house that conserves energy. A small home is an efficient
home. It uses less materials in construction, there is less waste, and it takes less energy to run and
maintain. I would say that is the very first step to having an efficient home build what is
essential, and forget the luxurious extra rooms.

Start with a super-insulated envelope to keep temperatures even. Earth-bermed homes are ideal
for this. The temperature 6 below the surface of the ground is a constant 55 degrees. It is easier
to heat and cool from that base temperature than working against 0 in winter or 100 in summer.
Earth is a wonderful insulator!Strawbale and SIPs are also excellent insulating materials.

Energy efficient windows and doors are part of the envelope. Windows and skylights are placed
to bring in natural light to cut down on the need for lights during the day. Window and door
openings take advantage of natural breezes for cooling. The house is oriented for passive solar
heating, and thermal mass is an integral part of the main structure.

Inside the house, the HVAC system is properly sized for the estimated energy use and savings
that the envelope will provide. Plumbing fixtures save water, and rainwater is caught and filtered
for domestic use. CFL and LED lights are used instead of incandescent light bulbs.

Efficiency considerations for a Net Zero Home

The home needs to be as efficient as possible before installing renewables. The size of the solar,
wind or geothermal generating systems will be based on the projected energy use of the building.
Harvesting energy at the home site cuts energy loss when it does not have to travel through a
maze of transmission lines. Its much more efficient than power you get from your utility!

Ultimately, the house will generate all the power it needs, eliminating the need for fossil fuels.
The only embodied energy in the home will be in the materials and their transport, so recycled,
local and sustainable materials will reduced that load and the homes carbon footprint.

Net Zero homes rely on green lifestyle choices too

The occupants then must continue to conserve energy by closing lights in rooms that are not
being used,saving water, using solar hot water during peak heating times, putting small
appliances on power strips to eliminate phantom loads, lowering the thermostat, keeping the
fridge and freezer full, and other basic ways to conserve energy.
The cost of a net zero home will be slightly more than building a conventional home, but those
costs will be recovered in savings. Theoretically, there are no utility bills, but if the residents are
using more energy than the house is capable of producing, there will be bills. Or if you are using
natural gas appliances instead of electric, you will have a gas bill. The energy you generate on
site, though, will offset that cost. Utility bills should be minimal, though, and your ROI high and
fast.

By supplementing an efficient envelope with renewable energy, you will have a net zero home
and minimal or no energy bills. What a great way to protect yourself from unstable prices and
supplies! Net zero should be the only way we build when the industry gets busy again.
THE VERTICAL FARM

Dr. Dickson Despommier's concept of the vertical farm has spawned a flood of interesting
architectural ideas that have filled pages of TreeHugger, and now fill the new book "The Vertical
Farm.

The basic concept of the vertical farm revolves around creating a closed loop, where food is
produced in the sealed vertical farm, gray water is purified through condensing transpired water,
energy is produced by burning the waste in plasma arc incinerators, everything is used and the
only thing that leaves the building is the food itself. "Waste will be replaced with the recovery of

unrealized energy."

Despommier wonders why we have learned how to take care of ourselves and protect ourselves
from the vagaries of the weather, but for some reason we still leave our plants carelessly outside.
"For the majority, we humans are protected against the elements, yet we subject our food-bearing
plants to the rigors of the great outdoors and can do no more than hope for a good weather year."

The vertical farm will change all that, creating perfect growing conditions and wasting nothing.
The advantages:

Year round production

no weather related crop failures

no agricultural runoff

allowance for ecosystem restoration

no use of pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers

use of 70-95 % less water

greatly reduced food miles

more control of food safety and security

new employment opportunities

purification of grey water to drinking water

animal feed from postharvest plant material

Despommier calls outdoor farming "an open-ended no-holds barred battle to the death between
the crops we plant and those things that would consume them before they reach our plate." He
would solve this by growing plants the way Intel grows semiconductors:

Designing double-lock entry doorways will allow for an additional level of protection against
insects and microbes. Requiring all personnel to change into sterilized, disposable safety
uniforms, shoe and hair coverings, and to shower before changing clothes, will minimize the risk
of crop loss due to "hitchhikers" on items such as shoes.

Oh, and all the employees will be tested regularly to ensure they are not carrying anything.
Besides purifying water through boiling and conducting it ,
recently there is produced a special material with carbon
base called polycarbonate which is hidrophob. This means
that if we let grey water run through it, in the end we would
see coming out only clean water from it.Thats because the
polycarbonate keeps all the dust and everything else. This is
not a very expensive equipment an should be replaced every
year. The good thing is that it can be recycled.
THE SHIMIZU MEGA-CITY PYRAMID

The Shimizu TRY 2004 Mega-City Pyramid is a proposed project for construction of a
massive pyramid over Tokyo Bay in Japan. The structure would be 12 times higher than
the Great Pyramid at Giza, and would house 750,000 people. If built, it would be the
largest man-made structure in Earths history. The structure would be 2,004 meters high
and would help answer Tokyos increasing lack of space, although the project would
only handle 1/47th of the Greater Tokyo Areas population. The idea partially comes
from the fictional architectural marvel of the Tyrell Corporation, which appear several
times in the 1982 science fiction film Blade Runner, as a duo of futuristic pyramidal
structures. The proposed structure is so large that it cannot be built with currently
available materials, due to their weight. The design relies on the future availability of
super-strong lightweight materials based on carbon nanotubes.
Proposed start of construction has not been announced.

The Shimizu Corporation is a leading architectural, engineering and general contracting

firm, offering an integrated, comprehensive planning, design and build solutions for a
broad range of construction and engineering projects worldwide

They have been dreaming of these plans for almost a decade now and it could someday
become a reality. The Shimizu company has constructed great structures such as the
Taiwan High Speed Rail (a high-speed rail network that runs along the west coast of
Taiwan. It is approximately long, and runs from Taipei City to Kaohsiung City. THSR

began operation on January 5,

2007), Pakxe Bridge (or Pakse is a city in southern Laos, situated at the confluence of
the Xedone and Mekong Rivers. It is the largest city in Champasak province and is the
gateway to the Bolaven Plateau) and Shah Amanat International Airport (named after an
Islamic saint, serves Bangladeshs south-eastern port city of Chittagong. It was formerly
known as MA Hannan International Airport but was renamed on 2 April 2005 by the
Government of Bangladesh) and now they look at a structure 2,004 meters high.
The pyramid structure would be composed of 204 smaller pyramids stacked eight high.
Each of these smaller pyramids would be about the size of the Luxor Hotel (a hotel and
casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. Ground was broken for the
Luxor in 1991, that same year construction began on the Treasure Island) in Las Vegas.

The building would be zoned into residential, commercial and leisure areas. 50 km
would be given over to some 240,000 housing units, enough for 750,000 people. Each
building would have its own energy resources (sun and wind). About 24 km would be
assigned to offices and commercial facilities intended to employ 800,000 people. The
remaining 14 km would be used for research and leisure purposes.

Some advantages include that this city would have more rapid mobility, that the city
will be better protected from tsunamis, and that it helps solve the high-prices for land in
Tokyo. A major weakness in this project is that if one truss fails the whole structure and
750,000 people will crash to the sea. However it is highly probable that in the future a

solution to this problem will be found.

Ideally, the city will be powered by renewable energy. Unfortunately, getting power
from the sea is extremely difficult as a tsunami or tidal wave could wipe out any water
turbines. Another proposal is to use algae to power the mega city. Solar and wind power
are also options. Even given many advances, the Mega-City Pyramid seems like an
impossible job, but the people at Shimizu are confident they can reach their goal of
building the greatest man-made structure in history.

First, the pyramids foundation would be formed by 36 piers made of special concrete.

Because the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire (an area where large numbers of
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. In a 40,000
km horseshoe shape, it is associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches,
volcanic arcs, and volcanic belts and/or plate movements) cuts right through Japan, the
external structure of the pyramid would be an open network of megatrusses, supporting
struts made from carbon nanotubes (allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical
nanostructure. Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to
28,000,000:1, which is significantly larger than any other material) to allow the pyramid
to stand against and let through high winds, and survive earthquakes and tsunamis (a
series of water waves that is caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of
water, such as an ocean. The original Japanese term literally translates as harbor
wave. Tsunamis are a frequent occurrence in Japan; approximately 195 events have
been recorded).
The trusses would be coated with photovoltaic film (used in Solar cells, devices that
convert the energy of sunlight directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect.
Sometimes the term solar cell is reserved for devices intended specifically to capture
energy from sunlight, while the term photovoltaic cell is used when the light source is
unspecified) to convert sunlight into electricity and help power the city. the city will
also be powered by pond scum or algae.

Large robots would assemble the truss structure, and air bladders would be used to
elevate trusses above the first layer using a construction system proposed by Italian
architect Dante Bini. Spheroid nodes at the connections between trusses would provide
structural support and serve as transfer points for travelers.

Australian Company, Straight Edge Tiling have secured a contract for the internal tiling
of the Pyramid. CEO Daiman Cartan met with construction engineer David Dimitric and
lawyer Tavis Gorman in December 2007 to discuss innovative concepts regarding the
huge task, as well as legal boundaries, to which an agreement was made.
Transportation within the city would be provided by accelerating walkways, inclined
elevators and a personal rapid transit (also called personal automated transport or
podcar, is a public transportation concept that offers on-demand, non-stop
transportation, using small, independent vehicles on a network of specially-built
guideways) system where automated pods would travel within the trusses.

Housing and office space would be provided by twenty four or more 30-story high
skyscrapers suspended from above and below, and attached to the pyramids supporting
structure with nanotube cables.

According to Discovery Channels documentary on the pyramid it would be complete

within the year 2110.

It is expected to go under construction by the 2030s, but Shimizu put it down as a vision
and have not added much more idea for the project and have lately taking no action on
the project, but are still very determined to complete it sometime in the future.
photoresistor- photoresistor, light dependent resistor (LDR) or cadmium sulfide (CdS) cell is
a resistor whose resistance decreases with increasing incident light intensity. It can also be
referred to as a photoconductor.

diode- a diode is a two-terminal electronic component that conducts electric current in only
one direction.

solar cell- also called photovoltaic cell is a solid state device that converts the energy
ofsunlight directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect.

credit union- a cooperative organization that makes loans to its members at low interest rates

flagship building- the most important building of the company

net-zero-energy produces as much energy as it consumes

ceilings- the upper interior surface of a room.

insulation- to prevent the passage of heat, electricity, or sound into or out of, especially by
surrounding with a nonconducting material.

entrepreneurs- a person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture

sprawl- the urban area formed by the expansion of a town or city into surrounding
countryside

strawbale- straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw (commonly
wheat, rice, rye and oats straw) as structural elements, building insulation, or both.

sealed- a device which helps prevent leakage, contain pressure, or exclude contamination
where two systems join

vagaries- an unexpected and inexplicable change in something

leisure- is a period of time spent out of work and essential domestic activity.

truss- a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members
whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes.

tidal- tidal force, theory of tides, tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the
combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation
of the Earth

piers- a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water,
typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars.

bladders- flexible enclosure with waterproof or gasproof walls

inclined elevators- elevators that dont move vertically but with an angle with horizontal

mulch- any material, usually organic, that is spread on the ground to protect the soil and the
roots of plants from the effects of soil crusting, erosion, or freezing; it is also used to retard
the growth of weeds.

cement- binding material used in construction and engineering, often called hydraulic cement,
typically made by heating a mixture of limestone and clay until it almost fuses and then
grinding it to a fine powder

concrete- structural masonry material made by mixing broken stone or gravel with
sand, cement, and water and allowing the mixture to harden into a solid mass.

postharvest- the stage of crop production immediately following harvest, including cooling,
cleaning, sorting and packing.

semiconductor- a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow (as opposed to
ionic conductivity) intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator.

nodes- a point where are bonded two elements as trusses

nanotube- a nanometer-scale tube-like structure

blades- a blade is the flat part of a tool, weapon, or machine (such as a fan) that normally has
a cutting edge and/or pointed end typically made of a flaking stone, such as flint, or metal,
most recently steel.

conduction band- is the range of electron energies, higher than that of the valence band,
sufficient to free an electron from binding with its individual atom and allow it to move freely
within the atomic lattice of the material.

electron- is a subatomic particle carrying a negative electric charge. It has no known

components or substructure.

positron- or antielectron is the antiparticle or the antimatter counterpart of the electron.

photon- is an elementary particle, the quantum of the electromagnetic interaction and the
basic unit of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation. In other words a photon is
a little packet of energy which can carry electromagnetic radiation.

matter- is a general term for the substance of which all physical objects consist. Typically,
matter includes atoms and other particles which have mass. A common way of
defining matter is as anything that has mass and occupies volume.