Sol Sisters Let's exchange ideas about the more feminine aspects of renewable energy. This is not meant to be sexist. Anyone can cook, do housework or install a PV. Traditionally Speaking A large part of non-grid produced power is used for household chores, traditionally done by the ladies of the world. These ladies have been conned into believing that electricity is just too technical. Not so! In our small neighborhood over half of the RE systems are maintained by the lady of the house. It's a matter of need and interest. Energy is non-sexist, it doesn't care whether you're male or female. After talking to a lot of RE using and installing ladies at SEER '90 the only difference we could come up with is upper body strength, and there's ways around that one. How many times have you been asked "How can you do without (insert anything from a hair dryer to vacuum)?" Sharing experiences could sure make answering these questions easier while helping to convince the skeptics that they can do it too. We're not the lunatic fringe!! Sharing Through Sol Sisters we'd like to share info on a variety of domestic topics. Here's a sample of what we have in mind-- solar cooking, test reports on kitchen and household appliances, problems encountered living off the grid and ways around 'em. For A List While at SEER and MREF, 26 ladies signed up for Sol Sisters. If you would like there names and addresses send me an SASE. Networking is important, we're not alone!! From A Different View Here's some ideas regarding the "Solar Sister" group from Katcha Sanderson. Call it the Solar Sister Society, the motto being Strengthening Solar- Esteem Through Sharing. I have an idea for a logo. The logo is built off of three interlocking "S-links" out of which the name Solar Sister Society reads. To complete the "chain" I would like to see a link of suns. This represents that we sisters are NOT the weak links in the chain! In fact we can help complete it. What I think would be meaningful would be to have a small newsletter, perhaps quarter (on the solstices!) which could serve as a clearing house for idea exchange. Developing a tradition of saying what will be missed in the last season and what looked forward in the next would help to orient thinking to the OUTside world. Plus be a reminder for seasonal "duties" - panel adjusting./cleaning, water considerations, better solar day activities, etc..... It could also be used for connecting Solar Sisters with one another. To that end I should like to see a list of "Support Sisters" who would be available to write and/or talk to those "Novas" (novice sisters) looking for someone they can learn from, woman to woman. This accomplished either by letter writing (not more than once a month!) between them or perhaps a 5 or 10 minute chat on a Saturday morning when the rates are lowest. The ultimate goal could be to meet once a year ( Willits?) and put together a demo/project which could be done by the Support Sisters and Novas together which could show not only that we CAN do it but also that it can work FOR us! Newsletter costs ($4 yr. + $5 one time fee for entering onto database) could defray its cost at a reasonable rate and compensate the person taking on this task. This could be done on a yearly, overturning basis (secretary) or a constant editor (cottage industry opportunity for a member). Katcha Sanderson, 20295 Panoche Rd., Paicines, CA 95043 My husband and I got our issue #1 of HOME POWER at the local laundromat in Yreka. He read it and liked it. I did not read it. I assumed it was some sort of technical magazine on 'things electrical'. Although I had been living on AE (microhydro) for years my interest and expertise remained basic.I learned to check the nozzle at the hydro plant before climbing the mountain behind our cabin to check the head. I learned to check the battery water when my husband was gone on a job. I learned to turn off lights when I left the room and to use the vacuum cleaner quickly. Also, how to coax the most hot water from our summer passive DHW system. This was the extent of my knowledge and interest. We began to receive HPs regularly and I did flip through them but nothing really caught my eye, to me it was just another technical manual for my husband. Then came issue #7. On page 15 was an article on solar ovens. I was fascinated. After I read that article and found it easy to understand I looked, really looked, at the other articles. They were good. I could understand and see the relevance of most of them. I got all the back issues and read them. Wow! I'd been missing a lot. By issue #10 Bob-O was encouraging me to submit an article. My friend, Sarah, had been wanting a passive solar water heater like ours so we built one at her house, I wrote the article and she did the artwork. The article appears in issue #11 on page 19. I was very pleased that someone used my article build and use the DHW system (see Letters to HP). As I met the HP crew and became more involved I have to admit my life has changed, for the better. I helped build the solar cooker on the cover of issue # 12 and it is one of a couple of solar ovens that I now use. Awareness of available energy and appropriate use of same. We can all do it! In this issue I have built and tested an easy, inexpensive solar oven design. This subject continues to fascinate me. I would like to hear from other solar cooking enthusiasts and start a collection of recipes to test for future publication. To share the knowledge and excitement is fine indeed and quite rewarding. Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze