[Thralen]

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this solar and wind power DIY manual.

earth for energy at:

http://www.earth4energy.com/

I'm not adverse to doing some work for this project, have an intermediate to high level of DIY skills, and most likely have the tools needed. I don't want to waste money on this if it is a scam or just poorly written. I was initially made wary by the "as seen on TV" label on it. While researching it on the net all the 'recommendations' sounded a little wrong to me so I thought I would ask here. If indeed, as I fear, this manual is not up to par, is there any particular manual, set of instructions, book, etc... that provides the same information. I live in Colorado, which is supposedly a decent state for Solar power, and am very interested in setting up our house with at least partial power provided by solar. Any information regarding doing so, in addition to the reference I asked about above, would be more than welcome.

Apologies if this is in the wrong section or if the question has come up before but I couldn't find it referenced in a search of the forums (may have just been searching incorrectly).

Thank you in advance...
Thralen

[mrobert]

Look at:
http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIs.aspx?domai ... id=godaddy

Hidden domain owner info, no contact info, and the website looks like another 1 million cheap templates used for selling e-books through clickbank.

Save yourself the trouble ... you can find all that info for free.
Google is your friend.

[IslandCrow]

Lots of links here Maybe they have what you are looking for. (Other pages on the site have more on solar than wind.)

[Thralen]

Mrobert: Like I said, something seemed off with it. Thanks for adding another to the negative side there.

Islandcrow: Thank you for the links, I'll have to work my way through there and see what I find.

Thralen

[mrobert]

No problem
You could also try Amazon. It's a reliable source of books.

Also, for any solar stuff, try the manufacturers directly.
They either sell complete kits, or have qualified personel who will tell you what you need to buy and how to install it.

If you are seriously into solar (how old are you?) ... get started with a basic electronics book. When I was 12, I attended an extra-school electronics club for 4 years. Learned a lot of cool things

[Thralen]

Well, specifically what I was looking for was a "here, this is your step by step guide to building the solar panels, setting up the batteries, etc... "now you are done with our instructions, call an electrician for tie in. It is the only reason I was tempted by that package.

I am 41 years old, I have done some home electrical work in the past, although most of the time I prefer leaving electrical and plumbing to professionals even if I am capable of doing both.

Essentially I was trying to avoid the manufacturer packages (too expensive and too pre-packaged) and learn how to build the panels myself. What materials were needed, what was locally available, what had to be ordered from elsewhere. The thought being that if there was a limited amount of materials that were not generally available then should there be a large scale problem that affects population, and we moved from our current area, I could use the knowledge I had picked up putting the first array together to build one wherever we ended up, thereby providing for power regardless of where we were.

Perhaps a silly thought but I still like the idea of knowing how it goes together and how it works. The principles behind PV I know already, the basics at least, but more in-depth knowledge on it would be a good thing. I could not build a functional set-up from what I know. I want to know how to build one if the materials are at all available.

As for seriously into solar, yes and no. I've done research on it and decided it was the most viable option for non-grid power in our area. I wouldn't necessarily want to go totally off grid unless absolutely necessary but in our recent past we've had outages from spring storms that lasted three+ days so some backup would be nice. In addition it is a means of prepping for potential grid problems,etc... I realize intertied w/ battery backup and off-grid are different set-ups but... I'm guessing here that a switch between the two would be much easier than trying to get power from no array whatsoever.

Thralen

[mrobert]

I am also planning to build a solar system as a backup for my new house, which is in a bit of a remote place which sometimes has powerfailures for a few hours.

The whole solar system will be sized to power some basics (computer, lights, phone, etc).

[angelsmile]

It is really good to be sure.. There are lots of scams nowadays...
But I've heard a lot about Solar panels and they said it's good, but the power it gave is not efficient.
You need to install as many as you can inorder to have enough energy.

[transshopguy]

Yes, I have the eBook. They sell it on Clickbank. They tell you to get a lot of the materials from ebay and hardware stores. You'll also need batteries, which they suggest hitting up golf courses (old batteries from electric golf carts) and reconditioning them.