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admin · Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 5:32 am Post subject: Solar Books

Thanks to Tom for information on the solar company. I too began well over two decades ago with rudimentary solar interest. The technical aspect seemed so far out of reach and too many dollars at that time in my life. I think the first thing I read about solar may have been in the Whole Earth Catalog and then later Mother Earth News. A couple of years ago I became interested again with more serious intent. I checked some books out of the libarary. Nothing was quite as helpful as a book I purchased off of Amazon.com: Power with Nature, Solar and Wind Power Demystified by Rex Ewing. I see he also has a new book: Got Sun? Go Solar. Both of these books are four and 1/2 stars. I may not have enough sun on my site to install a feasible photovoltaic system, however after viewing the solar panel used by Shawn Douglas for the aquaponic systems, I am planning on growing aquaponically and powering the water pump with a simple solar panel. If this works, I may set up a simple solar system to power a computer separate from my grid power.

www.amazon.com
www.douglasfamilyfarms.com

TargetSP · Joined: 18 Apr 2007 Posts: 8 Location: St Augustine

Thanks for the book info, I will check out the titles. I read Mother for a few years too. Never seemed to have enough time to do some of the great ideas they came up with. Of cousre it also would have been easier for me to try some of Mother's projects if I were living in a rural area with more space freedom.

Sean's aquaponic system is quite impressive. Since one of my hobbies is gardening I can appreaciate the concept. I thnk his product will do well.

Since you mentioned Wind, I discovered a Japanese inventor who designed a "low wind" deisgn which can begin generating power as low as 2mph. The fan blades are made of light weight plastic and only about a 12 inch diameter. Several of them can be interlinked to capture more wind. It's a very interesting idea. I will be keeping up on its development.

Powering the computer is a great goal. Smile

admin · Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 2:53 pm Post subject: Japanese Inventor Info Please

The low wind power system sounds great, especially for St. Augustine. Do you have any info on the Japanese gentleman, web site, or contact info?

TargetSP · Joined: 18 Apr 2007 Posts: 8 Location: St Augustine

I will need to look up the info again, unfortunately my primary desktop pc mother board developed a short and does not turn on. And of course all info is locked into hard drive. I have ability to move drive to a portable external case, but have not done it yet. I am now working with back up laptop. I plan to rebuild my desktop myself,,another project I did not need at this time,lol Crying or Very sad

TargetSP · Joined: 18 Apr 2007 Posts: 8 Location: St Augustine

Eureka,

I found my old link to to article about these small plastic fans. Of course you need the right location to catch the wind,lol

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/hong_kong_inven.php

Have fun reading about this great idea.

admin · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 4:34 pm Post subject: Wind & Solar Power

These look interesting. Thanks for the tip. It seems like you could find small fan blades at a wholesaler of electrical supplies, industrial equipment, etc. Or you could scavage the local dump, if the county would let you, or recycle from demolished buildings or old commercial air conditioner parts if the systems have been replaced. The county and other big consumer/users and companies that replace parts and systems could be encouraged to give us a heads up. It might be worth creating a public/private project to build a small wind turbine system.

Lately my thinking has turned towards real simple and real basic. I have thought about using a small system with a small solar panel and a small wind turbine like you see on boats. Today someone actually approached me with this idea. The experience gained from implementing a small system that doesn't cost a lot could serve as both a model and inspiration for the community and also give us ideas about how to develop a larger system. This project is definitely on my horizon.

admin · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:15 pm Post subject: Larry Behnke's Solar Information

Larry Behnke came to one of our NLA meetings last year and gave a talk on solar power-well attended I might add. He spoke from actual experience, creating a solar powered system for his home for hundreds o dollars rather than many thousands. I recently found his notes again and thought it would be worth adding to this discussion.

Some resources:

I used the book, "The Solar Electric Home" by Joel Davidson to put my
system together. I'm no electrician, but it has worked flawlessly for decades.
For energy independence:
http://www.apolloalliance.org/
A great tool: Home Power Magazine
P.O. Box 520, Ashland, OR 97520-9903
Or download at www. homepower.com
Subscriptions: 1-800-707-6585
Back issues come in pdf or CD-ROM formats
www.homepower.com/archive

Larry Behnke, P.O. Box 1311, High Springs, FL 32655
386-462-8535

Smile