homemadeenergy.org ad legit?

It may or may not be.  More likely not.

You should know that websites generally do not have specific control over the ads which appear in the ad spaces.  They are automatically placed on a page, and change every day without the input of the website owner.  They are usually placed there by computers based on keywords appearing on the webpage itself.  For example, you'll notice that all the ads on this forum topic have to do with solar energy, electricity, and energy stocks.  If you go over to the "Why Do You Pay Taxes?" forum topic, you'll see that all of those ads have to do with tax preparation services.  Chrismartenson.com has nothing to do with any of these ads.

As a general rule, when somebody claims that "you can have your own solar or wind 'power system' for $200 or even less," chances are excellent that they are talking through their hat.

Somehow these to good to be true offers are always on 1 very long page. Offering you savings of hundreds of dollars AFTER you pay them money first.

There is a lot of information on the internet and most of the good ones are free.

 

it certainly would be awesome if this guy had stumbled onto something...... it just sounds tooo goood

How come I don't see any ads? (not complaining!)

Legit?  Well, you'll get "something" for your  money, but I doubt it will be what you think you will be getting.  And I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a refund. 

Don't waste your money.  Yes, you can build your own PV panels and windmills, but one small panel and one small windgenerator isn't going to power your home unless all you need is a few lights and nothing else.  $200 in parts won't let you build a system that will solve your energy needs.

Usually sites like these sell a slick looking package, but what you get is an e-book filled with very generic information that you can find on the internet for free.    And the free sites will offer far more specifics and details if you decid to do it yourself.   

One place to start is Homepower Magazine.  Yes, it costs about $25/year to subscribe and acess all of their articles,  however they have lots of free information on the site too, and the articles are very detailed, so you can check it out before you fork out any money.  http://www.homepower.com/

Another is Backwoods Home - their energy section is at http://www.backwoodshome.com/energy.html

Often, companies that manufacture these systems have information on their websites that is of value to anyone building their own.   Or just use "the google" and you'll find lots of articles by people around the world who have built their own systems, from simple water heaters to complete off grid electrics.

One excellent site, for example, is Mt Best - one man's (Tom J. Chalko MSc, PhD ) experiment in self-sufficiency in Australia.   The site features lots of "how to" articles and links.    Free.  http://mtbest.net/

Best wishes.

 

 

 

 

Look at the picture of the solar cell. Judging by the size of planter and flowers in the picture, it is about 1 sq. m. Solar energy in the U.S. delivers about 700 watt per sq m.  A good silicon solar cell might deliver 12%, so you can get maybe 80 watts peak out of it and you have to have some pretty sophisticated electronics to get that converted to ac at the right phase and fed backward into the power grid. At the very best, you might get 80 watts x 300 hours x $0.1 / 1000 watt hr = $2.40 per sq m per month. Don't spend it all in one place.

Pandabonium,

Your call on the referenced site is spot on. I decided to purchase the booklet to see what value was out there for the advertised price of $47.00. You get to download the authors data which is informative and generally vague enough to avoid any lawsuits but not worth the efforts you would have to invest to find out that it would not do what you expect.

As an example, the way you build a PV system for $200 is to locate damaged panels on e-bay and assemble them ona piece of plywood.

For those interested in valuable info you should follow the suggestions found in the rest of Pandaboniums' post as well as many others on this site. As was noted above, if it seems to good to be true .......go with your instincts as CM suggests.

Coop

 

 

woodman,

It's one of the advantages of having a paid subscription to the site.  Subscribers do not see any ads.

Ron

If you are actually considering spending $200 to put together a little home made panel, then you may want to just check these out: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11298162&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|114|3241|3404&N=4035091&Mo=6&pos=4&No=1&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=3404&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10617-Cat3241&topnav= Just keep in mind that the amount of energy that solar panel produce is very small, so you will need a few acres of land and tens of thousands of dollars to actually run a conventional home... If you are interested in home made devices that are feasible and you can make at home, do some research into solar collectors for water and space heating...

I just figured out how to search my posts and find replies.  Thank you for panning this ad.