The Definitive Alternative Energy and Home Power Thread

A few relevant (and semi-relevant) links to threads on this subject:

Advice for Solar Power, other alternative advice

Solar home panels 

Gold versus Solar (or other RE) 

Solar PV ERoEI 

Big Ticket Items? 

Homemade wind/solar electricity generators?

Prize for 'Sun in the box' cooker

Solar cookers

Living "Off the Grid" - Anybody here done that?

Sustainable Living Lesson III: Electricity

Sustainable Living Lesson I: How to Build Your Own Water Well

GREAT THREAD!!!!

Great thread, now I'm gonna have to make sure I have enough paper to print all this out before the power goes out so I can get power again to be able to read this on my computer.

Damnit now I'm confused. lol

I have a place where I can generate hydro power and would like to do so in the best way possible.   Unlike solar, micro-hydro seems to be strictly a DIY activity so I'd appreciate any advice, good sources for information, equipment, etc.   I searched CM but didn't find much about hydro unless I just didn't find the hydro thread.  As I develop this I'll be happy to share my data with the forum.

I have a place where I can generate hydro power and would like to do so in the best way possible.   Unlike solar, micro-hydro seems to be strictly a DIY activity so I'd appreciate any advice, good sources for information, equipment, etc.

I just purchased a solar catalog and design guide from solarpanelstore.com.  It has a few pages on micro-hydro design as well as some turbines that they carry.  Dont know anything about the company, but the catalog has been helpful as I design a PV system.

John

Bear in mind that the more you choose/embrace activities other than sitting still (in the company of display screens), the more your built spaces can be shelter-quality, as they were during 99+% of the human adventure.  Why not restrict conditioned air and fine points of building science to the space or spaces in which you will sit still for hours?

Short of that extreme, to size systems (and costs) properly, first do and/or calculate potential energy efficiency improvements to your building.  In other words, don't supply to waste.  Also, if you're in position to do some energy productive things in connection with properties near yours, it may be advantageous to do so.

Here's a related thread that could have happened here: http://www.chrismartenson.com/forum/has-anyone-bought-home-solar-system-recently/33051

My Wife and I have been off grid since 1983. We live on top of a mesa in central New Mexico in a passive/active solar adobe home we built ourselves with no mortgage and a by your leave from no one. But you have to be on a secluded site to do that. That's what off grid is all about isn't it?

For us it was not about payback time or economic feasibility, it was about flipping off the status quo and chasing the carrot. We are not as independent as we would like to be. We still buy food, vitamins, herbs, propane, internet service, gasoline. But I have cut my driving to a minimum [ once a week I buy groceries in Alamogordo an hour and fifteen minutes one way ] and my wife only drives to work and back. We do go to Albuquerque about once every six weeks or so for doctor's appts and to stock up from the natural food stores there.

I have begun the process of building a 60' tower for a home built wind turbine. See otherpower.com if you are interested in building your own. And we plan on starting a green house this summer. We have been doing organic gardening on a small scale but need to expand that. We have a composting toilet and radiant heating in the floors powered by solar hot water collectors and a pump, and a slightly bigger than modest PV system with battery storage. We are on 20 acres of isolated, juniper and pinon forrested land. At the other end of our mile long, dirt and rock driveway is a town of 20 people. Fourteen miles away there is a town of 1200. It will soon have a grocery store. This area is an economic dead zone which is why we like it and hope it stays that way. 

The only human activity we hear are aircraft and a train nine miles away. 

I'd be happy to answer questions from those seriously considering off grid living. I'm no expert. I've only done this once and did it my way with the help of a few books. It is not some yuppie system to run a yuppie lifestyle. We have a propane fridge and backup generator that uses propane too. We use compact flourescents everywhere, and even tho we make our own power and water we are very careful with both. We have a modest rain water recovery system. Our cars are old and get good gas mileage. We do not watch TV but our one luxury is we buy and watch movies. We came from LA and have friends and acquaintances in that business and are interested in movie making. At    http://www.myspace.com/ron45becker   you can find pictures of our home inside and out and part of our energy system. We look forward to hearing from you.

Ron

Great looking house.  How do you like the Zomeworks trackers?  I looked at them and Wattsun trackers but decided just to go with an adjustable angle fixed array.  Do the zomeworks trackers have problems in high wind?  Just curious so that when people ask me I have another data point.

I have a micro-hydo course from Solar Energy International under my belt.  The students installed one of them in CO at the end of the course.  I have also toured installations in CO and OR.   This knowledge along with an engineering degree in a different field and a lot of construction experience puts me into the "knows-enough- to-be-dangerous" category in this field.  I am in the hoard with wind and solar. 

Basically, you got three types of hydro power generation:

1)  High head (pressure) and low flow:  Head is the distance from the top of your water source ie a spring, lake or stream to the turbine.  I toured a home installation that had 650 ft of head and four gallons per minute.  Four gallons per minute is not much but 2000 ft of 1" PVC for the pentock was a quite a DIY undertaking.  Anyway, the owner ran his entire household off that. 

2) Low head and high flow:  In the type of installation, a pipe, channel or trough floods a turbine about 3 ft below the trough.   If you have say an irrigation ditch running through your property then you might have a good chance of a power source. 

3) Flow:  Instream generators that work like wind turbines- either vertical axis turbines or prop jobs. 

I believe it is the most under-utilized resource out there.  People tend to think of these big hydro dams but you could pack a system which can run your house in the back of a compact pickup!   You dont need big machinery but it takes a lot of infrastructure in channels, troughs, pentocks, plumbing and electrical controls. 

Bare in mind that depending on laws that apply to your situation, The Man can get real nasty about altering a stream channel or water body.   The Army Corp of Engineers has nationwide permits to apply under.  State govts need permits.  Environmental concerns.  Wildlife.  Water quality.    Game and fish.  Irrigation rights.   Many a good intention to utilize this clean and pollution free resource (along with wind and solar) has been shutdown.  The MAN needs to eat!  And "NO" is the easiest, risk free answer.  However, if you have irrigation rights or the spring or the lake is yours, you MAY be free and clear. 

You can go DIY but there is a lot of power there - more than you think - so be careful! 

Shoot me a private message: explain your situation, provide a location and I can probably point you in the right direction.  Same goes for anyone out there.....