Book Description
As oil prices continue to rise, many people are starting to think about how to unhook from the power grid. The Renewable Energy Handbook focuses completely on off-grid, sustainable living and energy independence in a rural setting.
Author William Kemp and his wife designed their own high-efficiency off-grid home in 1991. They worked methodically to produce a home which has all of the standard "middle-class" creature comforts while using six times less heating, cooling, and electrical energy than the average Ontario home. Soon they were inundated with inquiries and decided to put their experience into book form in 2003.
This updated edition focuses specifically on off-grid concerns and contains chapters on:
- Energy conservation
- Heating and cooling
- Photovoltaic, wind and microhydro energy generation
- Battery selection, voltage regulation and inverters
- Backup power
Twice the page count of the first edition, it also includes enhanced chapters on home and domestic water heating, wireless communications and biofuels. A "Showcase of Homes" chapter provides a tour of various off-grid cottages and homes, and details the type of lifestyle that can be achieved for a given capital cost. The book is augmented with appendices and hundreds of illustrations, line drawings and photographs.
Customer Reviews:
A very informative guide to renewable energy........2007-07-19
I found this book to contain very good information about living the self-sufficient lifestyle. This book contains vast amounts of information about renewable energy and the various methods available. I will definetly use this information as a guide to building our self-sustaining home. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about green living.
The Renewable Energy Handbook: A Guide to Rural Energy Independence, Off-grid And Sustainable Living .......2007-06-09
This is an excellent book, because it has much information in general, different green ideas for your home. And that is important for you and the Planet, today and future.
A "must-have" for homeowners everywhere........2007-03-06
Consulting electronics and software designer and green technology advocate William H. Kemp presents The Renewable Energy Handbook: A Guide to Rural Energy Independence, Off-Grid and Sustainable Living, a handbook to home improvement via stretching one's energy dollars and supporting environmental concerns through powering one's home with clean, dependable, renewable energy. Especially valuable for homeowners who live far from utility poles and power grids, but useful for all homeowners, The Renewable Energy Handbook covers energy-efficient home design considerations, especially factors that should be taken into account when renovating an older home; tips for appliance selection; an in-depth primer for off-grid living; electrical production through photovoltaic means, wind turbines, micro hydro electricity production, batteries, and fossil fuel backup power sources; how to apply and connect all the different aspects of green power safely; and much more. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this home improvement guide for readers of all backgrounds. The Renewable Energy Handbook is for both energy-conscious do-it-yourselfers and homeowners seeking to educate themselves on what exactly they need to know before they call in a professional. In today's world of oil crises, electrical blackouts, high gas prices and increasing environmental depredations, The Renewable Energy Handbook is a "must-have" for homeowners everywhere.
R.E. Handbook by Kemp.......2007-01-10
Best single source of information on this subject I've seen, as a professional in this field. Though perhaps not enough detail for expert system designers, it nevertheless
covers each item in some depth and explains it on a level that the layperson can not just understand, but maybe enjoy reading. Very good summary of a very large subject.
Excellent. I'll be giving them out to my customers. Nick
Houser, Off Grid Services.
Excellent Reference Material.......2007-01-10
The Renewable Energy Handbook is the definitive guide to Off-The-Grid Living. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in protecting our environment, self-sufficient living or simply saving money through an efficient lifestyle.
Product Description
A straight-talking book tells grid-connected homeowners how to use free energy from the sun and wind to reduce or even eliminate their electric bills, and what to expect from this independent, thoughtful lifestyle. Whether you live in the sun-soaked Southwest, or windy North Dakota, alternative energy has come of age with affordable modern technology. Now with rebates and incentives from most states, installing a home system is an economically-attractive and environmentally-responsible option. Chapters include: - Why invest in alternative energy for your home? - Is it legal and safe? - How solar electricity really works - Batteries or not? - Sizing a system to fit your home and your needs - Got Wind? - What does it cost? - Does your state offer rebates or incentives? - Permits, Paperwork and Financing - The Nuts & Bolts: what to look for, what to avoid - Who does the installation? - Extensive appendix with resources, manufacturers, sizing worksheets, glossary, and more
Customer Reviews:
Got Sun? Go Solar.... a grerat foundation resource.......2007-09-22
After cruising the web for Solar info, I decided on this as my first solar personal library resource, and am happy I did. After a full career in computer systems hungry for power, I had little background knowledge of electricity, current, even some helpful history. This book has provided me with just the right amount of background on (residential) electricity for me to learn about PV systems, what they can provide, and where to start.
This book is well written and an easy and fast read, informative without being overly or self-rightously technical, gives web and other sources to follow, and adds some humor and anecdotes to keep your interest high.
I like doing my own projects, intending to follow up with more technical design and installation books and web resources, and an online tutorial, culminating with my mostly-self designed rural grid-tie PV solar system.
I found this book to be a great motivator toward that goal.
Got Inspired.......2007-06-14
This book read quite nicely. The book's theme could be classified as a advanced introduction. I read this book before I purchased components for my rooftop PV system. The book was not a How-To, but served as a catalyst for inspiration and further study. The appendix was very detailed. Could I have read most if not all information on the web? Yes, but I would have had to filter through allot of sales hype. After the read,I was better educated and asked quality questions to the vendors who made my PV project come to fruition. I would recommend this title to anyone planning a solar project.
Very good intro to subject.......2007-05-18
Book is a very good introduction to the subject. It's well organized.
A very good review of "how to" switch to Solar Power.......2007-05-17
A very good technical discussion in lay language of the solar and wind systems.
Got Sun? Go Solar..........2007-05-14
Very informative and fun to read. I think I will read it again when my PV instalation is complete.
Book Description
Wind energy is a reliable, natural and renewable electrical power supply. The high installed capacity of today’s wind turbines and decreasing plant costs have shown that wind power can be competitive with conventional, more heavily polluting, fuels in the long term.
Focusing on the electrical engineering aspects of wind energy, this completely revised edition provides a detailed treatment of electrical and mechanical components and their interdependency, power control and supervision in wind power plants, and the grid integration facility. The book incorporates all the recent technical developments in electrical power conversion systems and essential operating conditions.
- Provides guidelines for the design, construction and installation of wind power plants
- Presents the history of wind technology, wind resources and economics of wind energy generation
- Introduces operating results and cost considerations
- Describes the fundamental characteristics and theoretical tools of electrical and mechanical components
- Discusses conventional and new types of generators, converters and power electronics
- Offers a comprehensive treatment of grid integration including the effect of power fluctuations on harmonics
- Focuses on improved use of grid capacities and grid support for fixed-and variable-speed controlled wind power plants
- Outlines power conditioning and control systems to ensure the safe operation of plants
Fully revised and updated, this new edition will continue to be the definitive resource for researchers and practitioners involved in the planning, installation and grid integration of wind turbines and power plants. The thorough approach will also prove highly beneficial to university students and practitioners in wind engineering, turbine design and manufacture and electrical power engineering.
Customer Reviews:
Better in Discussing Engineering than Ackermann.......2007-04-07
This should be compared to Thomas Ackermann's "Wind Power in Power Systems."
If I purchased only one, it would be Ackermann, which I think is generally more comprehensive (and bigger). That said, I would need to supplement it with a lot of specific engineering data if I wanted to do any particular analysis.
Heier gets much more into lower level engineering details. Ackermann, looks more at a general systems and regulatory environment perspective.
Both books are very good and generally easy to read, providing good overviews of "current" practise.
Grid Integration of Wind Energy Conversion Systems.......2004-06-28
The book is great. You can find the basic theory and description of the control systems for wind turbines applications. I just wait to have the second edition in my hands.
Book Description
Off the Grid confronts the ecological and cultural problems associated with the way we get and use energy, and explains how it is possible to live in a beautifully designed home using much less--no matter where your home is located.
< BR>
Customer Reviews:
Stunning and inspirational.......2007-05-12
This is a tremendous book that provides great food-for-thought for those interested in both quality design and off- or nearly-off grid living. Even if some of the houses might be out of range as noted by one commenter, there are still boat-loads of ideas around every corner.
Great photos, too!
Inspiration for the earth-conscious homebuilder.......2007-04-07
My husband and I are looking into building an off-the-grid cabin, and Lori Ryker's book was really helpful for putting all the options in perspective. It is not a technical, in-depth how-to book; it is more of an overview of the different possibilities. The author, a working architect and a professor of architecture at Montana State University, looks at ten different homes that range from grid tied to completely independent for their energy needs. After reading Ryker's book we decided we could build a house that is entirely off the grid; in particular, I was inspired by the four entirely off the grid homes featured in the book, one of which was designed by the author. The homes were built for different environments and living situations--from a full-time 2620 square foot residence in a remote part of Australia, to a 620 square foot vacation cabin on an island in Minnesota, to a 2620 square foot vacation home that is open to the elements of the Texas Hill Country. Some of the energy solutions surveyed are relatively simple and inexpensive (collecting water in cisterns) and others are more high tech and expensive (solar electric panels). This book is a great starting place for someone who wants to see what the possibilities are.
Interesting, but not practical........2006-07-05
Although I liked this book, it is not necessarily helpful. Most of the featured homes are much too expensive for your average middle income homeowners. I was looking for housing solutions for the Southeastern US and like almost every other publication out there, this book completely ignores our region. I suspect it is because our hot, muggy conditions are not as conducive to off the grid living as the other areas featured.
Buyer Beware!.......2006-06-17
If you are looking for practical solutions for alternative energy sources this is not the book for you. This book is a "coffee table" book and provides no information on implementing alternative energy sources whatsoever.
The author displays no knowledge of any scientific principles. I suspect that she has no such knowledge since she actually refers to the four elements (i.e. that asinine Aristotelean concept: earth, wind, fire, water) and comes across as "pointy-haired golf" type with a degree from Harvard (yawn...), and a die hard member of the parasitic class of life (i.e those people who don't know anything about the universe other than how to operate their iPods and order coffee at Starbucks). She comes across as if she has never connected a single electrical device other than her hair dryer in her lifetime. I don't think she could state a single equation in physics or electrical engineering if her life depended on it. The only information in this book really is her vague generalizations about Edison, Ford, and the history of the energy which consists of only a few sentances.
This book is essentially a book full of pictures of houses. It does not even show photographs of the alternative energy sources used in the houses, just the houses themselves. If you have never heard of or seen a house before you may learn something from this book but otherwise you aren't going to get any knowledge out of it. If you have heard of a house before and would like to learn how houses can use alternative energy sources, I suggest you read "The Renewable Energy Hanbook."
Customer Reviews:
A Different Explanation.......2001-12-29
This book is not for those who believe in the "accepted wisdom." Throughout the history of science, groundbreaking work has always been reviled by those in the mainstream, and that applies to all of Cathie's books.
For all but the most terminally stupid, the existence of UFO's is an established fact, unexplainable by modern science. Yet UFO's do exist. Therefore, there is something out there that science does not understand. Mr. Cathie makes an exceedingly interesting, non-conformist attempt to explain this phenomenon.
Cathie is a former airline pilot from New Zealand who personally observed a number of unidentified objects, plotted their courses, and noticed a pattern, from which he inferred a global grid of electromagnetic energy. This global grid has subsequently been substantiated by Becker and Hagens, among others.
Essentially, Cathie argues that UFO's, nuclear facilities, and ancient monuments are places of power, and in order to utilize this power, must be placed in precise geometric positions relative to the earth's surface, and sometimes, to each other. He has also noticed mathematical constants which keep coming up in his investigations.
The arguments against Cathie all come down to his unusual use of mathematics, which he calls "harmonic math," in which the decimal point is sometimes inventively placed. But because harmonics can easily be observed in music and nature, this is not such a radical concept. Cathie's books contain harmonic studies of various places on the globe (including Stonehenge), showing the geometric relationships in their construction and placement. He asserts the impossibility of nuclear war, because, he claims, a nuclear device, in order to detonate, must be placed not only in a precise geometric position relative to the earth, but also to the sun, and that the timing of the detonation is crucial. He says that all of the possible places and times for nuclear explosions have been worked out by the governments of the earth in advance! This from a man who predicted beforehand the dates and times of the French nuclear tests at Mururoa Island in the south pacific in 1968.
Cathie claims to have uncovered the relationship between gravity, light, and mass, and shows in later books tables of these values with their interrelationships.
Whether or not you agree with any of his claims, the book makes very interesting reading. It presents ideas which challenge the accepted wisdom, and makes a unique stab at explaining phenomenon which are at present poorly understood.
If you are someone who will not accept anything you haven't learned in a classroom, heard on CNN or NPR or read in the New York Times, avoid this book. You will find it incomprehensible and a waste of time. If you are a mainstream scientist you will probably find it ludicrous.
However, if you are willing to open up a littlle bit to some new ideas, you might enjoy it.
The book is not a light read. You will be required to expend some effort, but it is worthwhile effort that will challenge your present conception of reality.
Not even PSEUDO-science . . ........2001-07-24
This book is the stuff of fantasy and an overactive imagination--which would be great for fiction, but not for presentation as fact. As Mr. Cathie admits, by his own words, he does not consider himself a mathematician nor a scientist. Which is understandable, because he fails miserably at trying to "add to" Einstein's General Relativity theory in another of his own books, trying to improve Einstein's work. This should be a big clue as to the logic behind this book. His theory of a "world grid system" is an example of applying really bad math to an unrelated set of arbitrary information--akin to the assertion, by another author (Michael Drosnin), of a mathematical code contained within the Bible. Bruce Cathie started his research and theories after he had an encounter with a UFO sighting. The "world energy grid" is a series of lines that intersect with UFO sightings around the world. Since UFO sightings are as impossible to verify as the existence of a higher power, this is not good science to base a scientific theory. A strong belief maybe, but not scientific fact.
This kooky book is barely entertaining, and it is definitely not for any serious study of geophysical study. Better to read about this stuff on the internet or in your local library, for free, than to waste money on this collection of nonsensical goofiness.
The Classic book on the Energy Grid.......2000-04-29
As a fan of Bruce Cathie for many years, I think that this is a good foundation for his work. This book is important because this compilation of his early writtings is updated by Bruce, and explains clears his entire concept of a harmonic light-energy grid around the planet. There is no other book quite like this one. Lots of good diagrams and illustrations. Bruce claims that the British government had his early British publisher destroy all his books in the '70s!
Book Description
An in-depth look at the strategies employed in sustainable home design.
Customer Reviews:
A start to becoming aware of what we should do.......2007-08-10
This book was really fun to read. The pictures were beautiful and the surrounding of most of the homes were incredible. Some times the floor plans were a bit confusing and one of them had no definitions for the numbers that represented the rooms. It definately inspired me to do more with less and to consider green building as my next project. I was a bit dissapointed in the definitions of some of the energy saving apparatuses. I wish that the book would have gone into more detail on the excerpts of geothermal, solar hot water, PV arrays, and wind turbines. At best these were teasers and left me wanting much more explaination. I will say it gave me a world of great ideas. I would be very interested in a book on totally off the grid, fully functional with flushing toilets etc incorporating all aspects of rain water collection, grey water heating and collection, optimal design to do this and more, plus sub 1200 square feet homes that offer options on what can be afforded. In depth explainations on all the buzz words like living machines what it entails (cost,size,optimal location, size vs. amount processed per hr or day or what? better diagrams with flow directions and larger in format etc. This should give the author another book to write that I for sure will purchase. I am well over 13!
Sustainable 4,000 sq' homes?.......2007-07-09
Nature is efficient. To become sustainable, we need to relearn the art of efficiency. The six "off the grid" homes featured in this book include two that are over 4,000 sq'. Did the author consider how much energy it took to build these things? The smallest house is about 1,600 sq' and it is the only one of the six that is actually off the grid. Four of the others are on intertie connections and one is featured because it uses geothermal. A more honest title would be "How to Generate Some of the Energy Required by Your Oversized House". This book demonstrates that sustainability depends not so much on changes in technology but changes in the way we think. Two books which I found helpful in changing my understanding of shelter are the classic "Owner Built Home" by Ken Kern and "The Hand-Sculpted House" by Evans, Smith and Smiley.
Product Description
When you visit power sites and sacred sites, you are clarified and balanced, and you absorb and carry their light within you, and it becomes your own. Power points on your Earth are the very distribution centers of the prophesized event you term the Planetary Ascension, and as such they are tools for the frequencial ascension of both humankind and of the living planet. Includes 32 pages of color photos.
Average customer rating:
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The Energy Grid: Harmonic 695, the Pulse of the Universe The Investigation into the World Energy Grid
Manufacturer: Amer West Pub & Dist
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0922356203 |
Book Description
This book is a revised and updated combination of Harmonic 695, the UFO and Antigravity and the Pulse of the Universe. The book explains the formation of matter and anti-matter and includes the mathematics of the world grid.
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Grid Converters for Photovoltaic and Wind Power Systems
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0470057513 |
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Grid-Connected Wind Turbines
H. Nacfaire
Manufacturer: Routledge
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ASIN: 1851661859 |
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