There are many people in the world keen to make their own renewable energy using either solar panels or wind turbines. A number of ebooks claim to show you how. I read one of the most popular books and below is my review.
If you’d like to know my overall thoughts you can skip to the conclusion at the end.
What is the Ebook About and Who is it For?
This ebook is about empowering you to build your own solar panels or wind turbines or both. Explaining how solar and wind energy technology works and giving you detailed step by step advice this ebook takes you through the solar panel and wind turbine construction process. This ebook is for the practical green enthusiast who has good DIY skills and is not turned off by the thought of using a metal grinder or connecting up batteries.
Organisation and Overview
This practical and political ebook author is keen to point out why self sufficient renewable energy technology is so important to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. The main thrust is teaching you how to make your own solar generator, solar panels and wind turbines.
A range of interesting but randomly linked topics are also included from a small section on hydro-electric power to whether ethanol is a viable alternative to gasoline for running our cars.
Content
The dangers of using fossil fuels and our social responsibility to do something about this form the introduction and ebook context. The author poses the question – is there anything you can do as an individual to make a difference? The author urges simple actions – use energy efficient light bulbs and turn off appliances. The key message is, use energy efficiently first and then generate the energy you do need cleanly.
Solar Energy
The next chapter tells you what’s required to build your own solar energy device. The instructions and diagrams are clear and help you to understand how all the components work together.
Each components role is clearly explained and tips for obtaining free or cheap parts such as batteries are particularly useful.
Be ready to get your hands dirty building the solar panels in chapter 4. The author includes photographs and diagrams for connecting cells in rows with wiring, however it is difficult to explain through words and static pictures alone so a video is available on the Earth4Energy members area which you have access to if you purchase the ebook. There are also some useful tips on how to maintain the solar panels once built. The only thing missing is some advice on the best places to locate your solar panels.
Wind Energy
The second part of the ebook moves on to wind energy and identifies the basic components of a wind turbine. Chapter 6 claims that you can buy a turbine for under $6000 which can reduce your utility bill by 50-90%. The turbine would pay for itself after 8-15 years.
This reflects our experience in the UK with a commonly cited payback period of around 10 years for domestic scale wind turbines. A key piece of advice is given at this stage; in order for a wind turbine to be effective, you need a wind speed of at least 10mph (4.4 metres per second). It does not say at what height this should be measured (presumably roof height) or how you might go about finding the information.
Through my own experience wind speed measuring devices (anemometers) for your roof can be obtained on ebay for around £70. Alternatively you can buy handheld devices, however their accuracy is questionable.
The instructions for building your own wind turbine for as little as $200 occasionally left me confused, how big should the alloy hub be? Advice on reconditioning batteries could make your project substantially cheaper if you are seriously committed. Parts can all generally be bought from ebay. You may end up spending more than you want to if you end up needing help from an electrician wiring everything together which seems tricky.
The Rest of the Book
The remainder of the ebook is devoted to a random selection of renewable energy topics. Running your car on vegetable oil through grease powered conversion kits and other ideas for reducing your dependence on oil are included for those who want to go that extra mile. No information is given however on how much they are or where to get them from or how easy they are to convert.
One of the final chapters touches on how to create a self powered home off-grid giving references for information but is not enlightening in itself.
The high cost of small-scale renewables means they are largely out of reach for the majority of the world’s population, however this cost will come down according to the author. The key message being – if Governments put more money in the pot, then he cost of renewables will come down almost immediately.
Whether we can run our cars on ethanol instead gasoline is discussed as is large scale hydro-electricity which appears out of context. Off the wall future technologies such as solar power from space, floating wind farms and nano technology also have their own chapters. Whilst interesting, they are not relevant to the core idea of the ebook and appear as space fillers.
Conclusion
This book is great if you are serious about embarking on a build your own solar panel or wind turbine project. There are some great tips on sourcing parts cheaply and good diagrams and pictures with a downloadable video showing you how it is done. There are quite a few pages on renewable energy politics and generic renewable energy technology information which is interesting but not key for building your own solar or wind turbine project.
This book is not worth investing in you are only interested in the theory and you are wary about taking on a potentially time-consuming and tricky DIY project. However if you are itching to get your jigsaw out it is great value for money.
Find out more about earth4energy (affiliate link)
Pros
- Information on how solar and wind energy devices work
- Empowers you to build your own solar panels or wind turbines
- Tips for obtaining cheap or free parts
- Free video for support
Cons
- Only suitable for someone with good DIY and electrical skills
- May end up costing more if electrician/ other professional help needed
Find out more about earth4energy (affiliate link)
bernadus
July 6th, 2009
i like your ebook review about this alternate energy. But it cost a lot of money right. Where does the people who succeed using this solution. Thanks.