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Domain: solarliving.org

Stories and comments across the archive that link to solarliving.org.

Comments · 10

  1. What scale? by rthille · · Score: 1 · on DIY Solar Resources?


    Do you need 120VAC, or can you go with low-voltage? Going with low-voltage, driving LED lights directly from the battery will probably help with efficiency over incandescent driven by an inverter, but I'm not sure about direct-drive of LEDs vs inverter-driven CFLs. For 120VAC, you may have to hire an electrician to comply with local laws. Either way, you'll need a charge controller to properly manage the current flowing from the panel(s) into the battery and to the lights.

    The Solar Living Institute (a couple of hours north of me here, 3 north of SF) have lots of resources: http://www.solarliving.org/

  2. Straw bale as building materials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on SHPEGS — DIY Solar/Geothermal Electricity

    I currently live in Indonesia, where people commonly burn rubbish - including farmers who burn the husks from rice production. Although this certainly isn't the most environmental form of waste management, I feel that if they are already burning rubbish, at least they could collect the energy from the burning?


    The people who founded "Real Goods" (now renamed to Gaiam) http://www.gaiam.com/realgoods/ are involved in renewable energies and are big proponents of using straw bale (recycling the husks from crops including rice) as building insulation materials. Their non-profit arm at http://www.solarliving.org/ has books such as at http://www.solarliving.org/search.asp?keyword=stra w+bale&search.x=0&search.y=0 and also they have workshops http://www.solarliving.org/workshops/ , so they would probably be eager to talk with you and find out the situation in Indonesia.

    You can also search on the Web for "straw bale building" and get some other resources.

    So instead of burning as if it were rubbish, farmers could be possibly sell their rice husks as a useful form of building insulation, both for cold and hot weather. One man's trash is another man's treasure...?

    In the future, the husks will hopefully also be useful in cellusoic ethanol production.

  3. Straw bale as building materials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on SHPEGS — DIY Solar/Geothermal Electricity

    I currently live in Indonesia, where people commonly burn rubbish - including farmers who burn the husks from rice production. Although this certainly isn't the most environmental form of waste management, I feel that if they are already burning rubbish, at least they could collect the energy from the burning?


    The people who founded "Real Goods" (now renamed to Gaiam) http://www.gaiam.com/realgoods/ are involved in renewable energies and are big proponents of using straw bale (recycling the husks from crops including rice) as building insulation materials. Their non-profit arm at http://www.solarliving.org/ has books such as at http://www.solarliving.org/search.asp?keyword=stra w+bale&search.x=0&search.y=0 and also they have workshops http://www.solarliving.org/workshops/ , so they would probably be eager to talk with you and find out the situation in Indonesia.

    You can also search on the Web for "straw bale building" and get some other resources.

    So instead of burning as if it were rubbish, farmers could be possibly sell their rice husks as a useful form of building insulation, both for cold and hot weather. One man's trash is another man's treasure...?

    In the future, the husks will hopefully also be useful in cellusoic ethanol production.

  4. Straw bale as building materials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on SHPEGS — DIY Solar/Geothermal Electricity

    I currently live in Indonesia, where people commonly burn rubbish - including farmers who burn the husks from rice production. Although this certainly isn't the most environmental form of waste management, I feel that if they are already burning rubbish, at least they could collect the energy from the burning?


    The people who founded "Real Goods" (now renamed to Gaiam) http://www.gaiam.com/realgoods/ are involved in renewable energies and are big proponents of using straw bale (recycling the husks from crops including rice) as building insulation materials. Their non-profit arm at http://www.solarliving.org/ has books such as at http://www.solarliving.org/search.asp?keyword=stra w+bale&search.x=0&search.y=0 and also they have workshops http://www.solarliving.org/workshops/ , so they would probably be eager to talk with you and find out the situation in Indonesia.

    You can also search on the Web for "straw bale building" and get some other resources.

    So instead of burning as if it were rubbish, farmers could be possibly sell their rice husks as a useful form of building insulation, both for cold and hot weather. One man's trash is another man's treasure...?

    In the future, the husks will hopefully also be useful in cellusoic ethanol production.

  5. Solar Living Center will teach you how by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative · on Running Your Electric Meter Backwards

    The people behind the current Solar Living Institute (www.solarliving.org) have been doing stuff like this for probably over 30 years, back when it was called "Real Goods", which sold solar electric panels and prided itself on "taking people off the grid".

    They sell a book Solar Living Source Book (now in its 12th edition) which tells you how to take your home off the grid using solar panels, plus they offer courses http://www.solarliving.org/workshops/. They also run the Solar Living Center, which is a self-sustainable solar energy building/store/headquarters in Hopland, California.

  6. Solar Living Center will teach you how by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative · on Running Your Electric Meter Backwards

    The people behind the current Solar Living Institute (www.solarliving.org) have been doing stuff like this for probably over 30 years, back when it was called "Real Goods", which sold solar electric panels and prided itself on "taking people off the grid".

    They sell a book Solar Living Source Book (now in its 12th edition) which tells you how to take your home off the grid using solar panels, plus they offer courses http://www.solarliving.org/workshops/. They also run the Solar Living Center, which is a self-sustainable solar energy building/store/headquarters in Hopland, California.

  7. Solar Living Center will teach you how by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative · on Running Your Electric Meter Backwards

    The people behind the current Solar Living Institute (www.solarliving.org) have been doing stuff like this for probably over 30 years, back when it was called "Real Goods", which sold solar electric panels and prided itself on "taking people off the grid".

    They sell a book Solar Living Source Book (now in its 12th edition) which tells you how to take your home off the grid using solar panels, plus they offer courses http://www.solarliving.org/workshops/. They also run the Solar Living Center, which is a self-sustainable solar energy building/store/headquarters in Hopland, California.

  8. Re:Meanwhile... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1 · on $9 Billion Loophole for Synthetic Fuel

    Shit no. But, if you SELL them, you have to collect taxes. You also need more permits and such. The Solar Research Institute in Hopland, CA sells biodiesel. I'm not sure what they charge (or if the recent flood wiped them out too much to sell bio, or what) but last I looked (when fuel prices were over three bucks) they were charging $3/gal.

    AFAIK it's not illegal to put your own fuel in your vehicle, like it is to put kerosene or farm diesel into your car. It's probably illegal to provide it to someone else though :P

  9. Re:Meanwhile... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1 · on $9 Billion Loophole for Synthetic Fuel

    Shit no. But, if you SELL them, you have to collect taxes. You also need more permits and such. The Solar Research Institute in Hopland, CA sells biodiesel. I'm not sure what they charge (or if the recent flood wiped them out too much to sell bio, or what) but last I looked (when fuel prices were over three bucks) they were charging $3/gal.

    AFAIK it's not illegal to put your own fuel in your vehicle, like it is to put kerosene or farm diesel into your car. It's probably illegal to provide it to someone else though :P

  10. Battery-powered housing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on World's Largest Solar Array to use Stirling Engine
    [CrazyJim1 wrote:] I also thought that if a house has its own batteries, it could last through blackouts, and with solar powers, offset some of the power costs of the house.


    You might be interested in Real Goods, which has been around since the early seventies (?) instructing people how to build private solar arrays for powering homes. They use solar arrays to feed batteries which then power the house. People can live "off-the-grid".

    Their http://www.solarliving.org/design.cfm>Solar Living Center in Hopland, California, is an experimental working design. It's quite interesting (but it's a LONG drive from, say San Francisco). The walls are insulated with bales of rice hay or something, and I went there in the summer many years ago and it was quite cool (temperature wise). In fact, they are "on-the-grid" because they generate enough electricity that they sell the excess to the power company! The exterior is a nice sea shell design, which brings to mind that convention center in Australia (can't remember the name off the top of my head).

    It's very "Northern California" hippy-esh, with awnings made of hemp, and communal Solar Day celebrations, which to me run a little bit on the wacky side. But I think their heart's in the right place.