info-mati-on on off-teh-gridz0r energy

anybody evar bult 'em a solar panel, windmill, watermill...etc?

anything i should kno boutz it?

any info-mati-on, tutorials, DIYs,..etc...etc...all that bullshit.

THANKS MATES

 

excellent site: otherpower.com

 

if you've got a reliable stream or river nearby (that doesn't dry up) then go with that -like a goldmine!

wind is your next best bet, then solar which is cheap but obviously has limited up time

it's a much more complex subject than it first appeared, at least it is to me as i'e had to learn all about amps, watt-hours, battery technology, charging, discharge loads, etc. etc.

 

Been studying otherpower.com for a while. You can build 2KW for under $1000.00 depending on your scrounging skills.

That doesn't include storage, control or cabling but that's not really that much, you can get everything but marine batteries on eBay.

 

Check out this really great 'zine called Mother Earth News.

 

Commercial solutions seem to suggest 1KW for $1000 (hydro), again - that's without none of the other bits and pieces like charge controls and batteries. Looking at sites of people who are using such equipment though are often lucky to get half the quoted output.

 

I wonder how it would work to build an old fashioned windmill, but instead of having the regular blades, you install solar panels, that way you could collect energy two ways. You could also try building a generator that runs off of alcohol, and then make your own alcohol out of your biodegradable waste. Might work.

 

I'm not sure about the alcohol thing, but the windmill idea is funky! I don't know how much solar panels weigh though, so if they're heavy they might impede the performance of the windmill. Also I guess that although the panels are rotating, they are still generally facing level across the landscape rather than up towards the sun as much as ones which were static. I guess the traditional windmill design isn't that efficient either. And it would be expensive to build! So I guess it may just be cheaper to buy the two separate devices as they are instead. Nice idea though!!!

 

yeah, it is a neat idea, but as you say, solar panels face directly south(roughly, if stationary), and vary rarely is the wind coming from that direction, so I doubt that they would be efficient.

 

I don't think solar panels are heavy, not that I have ever tried to pick one up. They are made out of silicone.

 

Good point... now I think about it didn't somebody make a solar powered ultralight plane in the 1980's? So I guess you're right!

 

Actually, somebody just built a plane that set or broke some record and it had solar panels on the wings....