Found a Whacked, TIC Solar book!

[WileyCoyote]

We were browsing in Barnes and Noble today, and found and bought this book - "Solar Energy Projects for the Evil Genius". While it is supposedly geared for older teens, it has a lot of practical hands on stuff for someone who is a newbie at Solar energy. My VSO has wired a lot of things (sheds, houses, fire trucks, computers, TV/VCR/DVD players) but has never tackled solar. This explains it in easy to read format, and has pictures of the "how to's" .
Found it at Amazon (of course) when we got home, and if you want to read a review (plus a listing of chapter titles) here is a link -
http://tinyurl.com/yw5cln

Pretty awesome stuff for our simple little minds...

[12vman]

I found this (http://www.tiredofmakingyourutilitycompanyrich.com/) book and wonder what's in it..

[bee_pipes]

Nicely done job on the packaging for "Tired of Making Your Utility Company Rich." The information is readily available from a number of other sources, but anybody that can collect, package and present in readable format has earned the price of the book. I remember peak oil and other concerns being discussed here.

"Solar Energy Projects for the Evil Genius" looks like an interesting book. Like you, WileyCoyote, I am a babe in the woods when it comes to Renewable Energy. I found Rex A. Ewing's book "POWER WITH NATURE 2ND EDITION: Alternative Energy Solutions for Homeowners" most instructive. It does start out with a corny story, but the story serves the author's purpose - it familiarizes you with the parts and concepts before he goes into a discussion of both.

I don't necessarily agree with the idea of getting an equity loan on the house to finance the change, as recommended in "Tired of Making Your Utility Company Rich", but we each must decide what our circumstances are. We have managed to get ourselves debt free, and the idea of another note doesn't sit well with me.

We live in the domain of the Tennessee Valley Authority and enjoy reasonably priced electricity (when compared to the rest of the country) but even the considerable hydro resources of the TVA are not enough to keep up with demand. They operate a number of coal and nuke generating stations. TVA, and it's subsidiaries (our local power co-op), have a program for green energy. It's a scam. They get feel-good points for buying green energy from producers - even the home owner that produces a surplus. They buy from you at the green rate, a premium rate, and sell to customers that have indicated they want green power at that same premium rate. If you should produce less than you use - say you have the AC running and need to draw back power from the utility at night, you pay that same premium rate for every kilowatt hour. You should be using less power, but you will pay more for it. They do not pay you outright, they credit your bill. If you have a net surplus, you never see any money - just run a credit balance on your account. Sweet arrangement, eh?

We are retired and on a fixed income - nothing to brag about, but we enjoy a low cost of living in our area. We are trying to nickle and dime our way into energy independence over the course of five years, adding a component at a time. The low power rates mean we won't be making the wisest move, so far as cost effectiveness is concerned, but removing one more outside dependency makes good sense.

You keep at it. This is a very worthwhile area to research and learn about. Like you implied, all it takes is a well written book to open all this up for you.

If you have not had the opportunity, check out the following web sites:
http://www.otherpower.com/ - amazing wind power using junk car parts
http://www.fieldlines.com/ - discussion board for above link

Another book I found useful was Rex Cauldwell's "Wiring a House."

Regards,
Pat

[WileyCoyote]

Thanks, Pat! Appreciate the links!

My VSO is a Libra and he always weighs everything very carefully before he does anything at all. We are busily investigating and studying everything we can before we make the final move. Wind power is definitely a consideration, as is solar, to us... we are scouting out everything we possibly can on it.

I was in a discussion with a developer friend of mine last week; he told me that the Germans have bought up all of the silicone manufacturing companies, and are raising the prices above what mortal man can afford. He is very "green" but noted that in our state there is no "buy-back" program, thanks to lobbying by the major electrical provider in the State. The green house he is building would either have to be totally self-sufficient, or he would have to admit that it could not run solely on solar panels. Even when you 'try' to do the responsible and sensible thing, government-subsidized companies will try to thwart you.

[bee_pipes]

We aren't in the best location for wind power, but Ewing mentioned it may serve as a backup for weather that is not good for solar. If a front moves through, cloud cover may cut down on solar, but such a front is usually accompanied by winds. Solar has got to be our primary. We also have a creek, and I'm looking at what we could do with that. Biggest problem is distance - may have to convert to AC for long runs to keep from spending a fortune on cable...

The media has been talking about some sort of breakthrough in the making on thin film panels. The technology is there, just a matter of industry getting tooled up an economy of numbers coming into play.

Regards,
Pat

[alma]

"Solar energy projects for the evil genius"

Called Barnes and Nobel. It is about 24 dollars and we pick ours up tomorrow. Thanks or the info. alma

[alma]

Well, we drove all the way to opraland to get the book.

Believe it or not, it was great for a high school kid, but i am only in the second grade as far as solar stuf is concerned, so we didn't buy it. lol! love, alma

[WileyCoyote]

Gee, I'm sorry, Alma!
My VSO has had some experience with electrical supply generators for fire trucks as well as wiring experience for structures, but had literally NO experience or knowledge of the generation capacities of sunlight nor the storage capacities of in-line batteries, so it helped him grasp it.