humbug
08-07-2007, 04:00 AM
I am back from my trip to Oregon and attending Solwest. I had a great time and John Day is beautiful.
Solwest began on Friday and continued through Sunday. There were many vendors there who were willing to discuss their products.
It was hard for me to get a chance to talk to vendors because Solwest had so many interesting workshops. Some of the workshops I attended included workshops on how to live off the grid without a generator, building your solar house on a shoestring, pumping water with solar, battery selection and maintenance, intro to wind power, commercial water pumping, How to live on solar power, principles of solar buildings and several others.
The keynote speakers were the creators of Touch The Soil magazine. They presented a thought provoking talk on money. I subscribed to their magazine and am finding it very educational and in line with what I believe.
I was able to spend some time talking to vendors about their products. I have been thinking about building an earth bermed home and after talking to some of the vendors I may use the insulated concrete forms. I know these won't be cheaper than dry stacked blocks but I think they will be easier.
One of the best things about Solwest was the opportunity to talk to people who have actually built their off grid homestead (no these people are not rich, just working stiffs like the rest of us) and find out how they jumped the many hurdles that they encountered. Everyone there was incredibly friendly. I even met two separate people from the state of Nevada and from the area where I grew up and own my 40 acres, small world isn't it? I came home with a wealth of new information. I have lived in a solar/wind house so knew much of what I heard, but I also had the opportunity to learn about new technologies and how people solved problems they encountered.
I will share much of what I learned with everyone over the winter. I was only gone four days but had to work six nights after I returned home. The weeds sprouted and grew a foot in my garden while I was gone so I will have to take care of that over the next couple of days. I do recommend that if you have the opportunity you attend a renewable energy fair. The information and contacts you make will provide you with inspiration and knowledge worth way more than the cost of attending.
Solwest began on Friday and continued through Sunday. There were many vendors there who were willing to discuss their products.
It was hard for me to get a chance to talk to vendors because Solwest had so many interesting workshops. Some of the workshops I attended included workshops on how to live off the grid without a generator, building your solar house on a shoestring, pumping water with solar, battery selection and maintenance, intro to wind power, commercial water pumping, How to live on solar power, principles of solar buildings and several others.
The keynote speakers were the creators of Touch The Soil magazine. They presented a thought provoking talk on money. I subscribed to their magazine and am finding it very educational and in line with what I believe.
I was able to spend some time talking to vendors about their products. I have been thinking about building an earth bermed home and after talking to some of the vendors I may use the insulated concrete forms. I know these won't be cheaper than dry stacked blocks but I think they will be easier.
One of the best things about Solwest was the opportunity to talk to people who have actually built their off grid homestead (no these people are not rich, just working stiffs like the rest of us) and find out how they jumped the many hurdles that they encountered. Everyone there was incredibly friendly. I even met two separate people from the state of Nevada and from the area where I grew up and own my 40 acres, small world isn't it? I came home with a wealth of new information. I have lived in a solar/wind house so knew much of what I heard, but I also had the opportunity to learn about new technologies and how people solved problems they encountered.
I will share much of what I learned with everyone over the winter. I was only gone four days but had to work six nights after I returned home. The weeds sprouted and grew a foot in my garden while I was gone so I will have to take care of that over the next couple of days. I do recommend that if you have the opportunity you attend a renewable energy fair. The information and contacts you make will provide you with inspiration and knowledge worth way more than the cost of attending.