Home Power with Sun Power
Long after the sun has set, our lights are still on. Use the sun to provide your own source of electricity to even the most remote homes. Siemens Solar electric systems power 12-volt appliances lights, T.V.'s, two-way radios, water pumps, small refrigerators, telephones and more. Siemens solar systems run small a.c. electric tools and equipment with a simple inverter. The Siemens module is the heart of any solar electric power system. Rugged and environmentally safe Engineered for maximum power...
Home Power Magazine 1
10 per year 6 issues to US Zip Codes via 3rd Class 20 per year 6 issues to US Zip Codes via 1st Class If you want to subscribe to Home Power Magazine, please fill out the subscription form below, write a check or money order, amp drop it in the mail. Tape the form well or use an envelope so your check doesn't fall out in the mail. Please note 3rd Class mail is not forwardable. We are not responsible for undelivered 3rd class issues. If you move you must send us your new address or your copies...
Heavens Flame Solar Cooker
Assembly and testing conducted by Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze 1990 by Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze Having some experience with solar cooking, amp eager to try more, I was excited by Joe Radabaugh's simple design. After seeing him demonstrate his solar cooker at SEER '90 I purchased his book, Heaven's Flame, and using it as a guide, assembled and tested a working solar oven. Joseph has spent the last 15 years designing and using solar ovens. His book, Heaven's Flame Solar Cookers, is easy to read...
Fluorescent Lighting is a System
for it to give color correct, efficient amp long-lived light all parts must be in proportion and harmony maybe High Freq. electronic or Low Freq. Electronic or Coil amp Capacitor maybe Glow Discharge or Pre-heat Filament or Rapid-start Filament with external starting circuits rapid start, pre-heat, and electronic ballasts is determined by the design of the starting circuit. The life of a fluorescent tube with built-in glow discharge starter is primarily determined by the life of the starter....
Kennedy Creek Hydroelectric Systems
In the 6,000 foot tall Marble Mountains of Northern California, it rains. Wet air flows straight from the Pacific Ocean only forty airline miles away. This moist ocean air collides with the tall mountains and produces over sixty inches of rainfall annually. Add this rainfall with the spectacular vertical terrain and you have the perfect setting for hydroelectric power. This is the story of just one creek in hydro country and of five different hydro systems sharing the same waters. Above Gene...
Things that Work
Ample Power Company's Energy Monitor Testing conducted by Bob-0 Schultze-KG6MM It's an old saw in baseball that you can't tell the players without a scorecard. In battery-based Renewable Energy systems, it's just as hard to tell at a glance whatcha got under them battery caps without an Amp-Hour meter. Ample Power's new Energy Monitor not only gives you a running numerical total of the Ampere-Hours into and out of the battery, but throws in a highly accurate digital voltmeter and ammeter to...
No Smoke No Flames
PV powered health care in Guyana, South America We met Aubrey Marks at the Appropriate Technology Associates ATA training seminar on June 1990 in Hyde Park, VT. Ken Olsen and Johnny Weiss were conducting this seminar at David Palumbo's Independent Power amp Light. Ken had just returned after spending a year working with PV-powered health centers in Central and South America. He helped us understand the vital significance of Aubrey's work throughout his homeland of Guyana. Aubrey Marks is no...
The Whisper Wind Powered Generator
Being in the business of repairing wind generators, I've seen a lot of junk come through the door. We witnessed the rebirth of the wind industry in the late 1970s with about 80 wind generator companies setting up shop. Virtually all of these companies, which produced anywhere from a handful to a few hundred mostly Rube Goldberg units each, have gone bankrupt. About six have survived the shakedown. Needless to say, I'm quite skeptical when I hear of a new wind generator design. About a year ago,...
Lights at Night
Using Electronic Light Bulbs on Inverters With Winter's short days upon us, now is the time to consider how we are making our light at night. Shorter days mean not only more hours of lighting use daily, but also reduced power production from PV modules. Here is information about applying a type of high efficiency light. These compact fluorescent lights, called electronic light bulbs, are screw-in replacements for regular incandescent lamps. They not only save power, but they are silent, have...
Yer Basic Alternator
Kilowatt for kilowatt, using water to spin a generator or alternator has long been recognized as the most cost-effective way to make electricity. Given that fact, it comes as no surprise that most home power folks who have the potential to generate hydroelectricity do so. By far, the greatest number of these DC generating hydrosystems use a common automotive-type alternator, just like the one under the hood of your favorite go-mobile. Let's take a look into an alternator and see what makes it...
New Life for Sulphated LeadAcid Cells
Over the years I have tried many chemical treatments supposed to rid a cell of sulphation. None of them made any perceptible difference. A strange and devious set of circumstances has led us to the successful chemical removal of sulphation from six lead acid cells. Not only are the circumstances odd, but the chemical used, EDTA, is benign- in fact, it is used as a human food preservative. The sulphated Trojan L-16W lead-acid batteries numbered four and were the victims of a messy divorce. The...