Home Power Archive Link - Great Resource on private alternative energy.

[peakbagger]

I have posted this link before

Home Power Magazine | Downloadable Archive | Browse

Browse 188 digital back issues of Home Power magazine in PDF and register to download any or all of them for free.

www.homepower.com

The magazine ceased publication a couple of years ago but a lot of great info on the home renewable energy industry got its start through the state of the industry to the end of publication.

Worth a browse if you have time to kill. The early issues and ads are interesting to see how much the equipment sold for.

 

[DBoon]

I would concur. I was a Home Power subscriber for many, many years starting with issue #7. It was THE resource for understanding anything about solar PV, microhydro and micro wind, with a lot of great articles about how to put together your own system from a myriad of different components. I dropped my subscription when solar PV became more "packaged" and less complicated. It was fun reading about the different systems people engineered and the bootstrap approaches they took.

 

[peakbagger]

The interesting part was they rarely judged the owner of the system. If it was blatantly unsafe they might have an editorial box off to the side politely pointing out possible upgrades or consequences. Some of the debates in the letters to the editor section could get interesting. They did eventually get a little stronger in their commentary on small wind systems as many folks were spending a lot of time and money on small wind.

 

[maple1]

Thanks for that link, I must go check it out.

IMO there is huge untapped potential in micro-hydro.

 

[peakbagger]

Lots of good practical microhydro articles. Sadly grid tying microhydro is not as easy as PV unless there are batteries.

I have potential for seasonal microhydro at my woodlot. The prior owner abandoned a lot of HDPE sap lines, I have been thinking of cleaning and patching them up and moving them so that I can play with it with a pelton wheel.