Solar Electricity Today- The 1991-1992 Renewable Energy Resource Directory from PV Network News Reviewed by Richard Perez This is a vastly updated and expanded listing of most every manufacturer, distributor, and dealer in the field of renewable energy. It contains over 800 listings spanning the topics of publications, dealers, manufacturers and specific hardware by type (like batteries or controls, for example). Names and complete addresses, most with phone numbers, make this resource directory essential for anyone in the biz and anyone purchasing components or services. Editor Paul Wilkins deserves the Medal of Excellence with PV clusters for the great work he's put into this new directory. Solar Electricity Today contains 16 pages in an 8.5" by 11" black and white format. Cost is $7.00 from PV Network News, 2303 Cedros Circle, Santa Fe, NM 87505 ù 505-473-1067. At less than a penny per listing, Solar Electricity Today is a fantastic information bargain. In Pursuit of Adventure and Freedom - A Sea Gypsy's Handbook for Living in Paradise By Fritz Seyfarth Reviewed by Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze The title alone intrigued me. All those buzz words - adventure, freedom, sea gypsy and paradise conjured up visions of every ocean going movie I had ever seen. No, I've never been sailing, but this book made me consider what a life "under a spread of sail" would be like for me. Here are the real and important considerations of anyone thinking of escaping their present life for "the sailboat as an island retreat". Fritz works write on through all the points of this sea gypsy lifestyle with honest advice, warnings, temptations and humor. He covers choice of a boat, renewable energy options afloat, the working sea gypsy, contrasts in life styles and the golden years. Not only does he write from his years of experience but he has also included the advice and opinions of other sea gypsies he is acquainted with. His 'reading list' and 'other information resources' are a must for anyone contemplating the life of a sea gypsy. He goes on to relate several stories of he and his cronies just to tempt the wishful reader further. My favorites were The Pirate's Leg and Salad Girls Can Cause Problems, Skippers Say. If I were a bit younger and knew how to swim I would be tempted to be a Salad Girl on Captain Fritz's boat. Other books by Fritz Seyfarth and available from Spanish Main Press: Tales of the Carribean, Mavericks in Paradise, Pirates of the Virgin Islands, Memoirs of Anne Bonny-Lady Pirate and Adventure-Under Spread of Sail In Pursuit of Adventure and Freedom by Fritz Seyfarth is available for $9.25 postpaid from Spanish Main Press, Red Hook Plaza - Suite 237, St. Thomas, US, VI 00802 Mavericks in Paradise by Fritz Seyfarth Reviewed by Bob-O Sixteen all too short stories about modern day "Caribbean rascals, renegades, adventurers and thieves..." Exciting and uproariously funny stories based more or less on the experiences of Mr Seyfarth and his sea gypsy friends living an "adventure under a spread of sail" in paradise. Argh, matey! The booklet's dedication gives us a clue to the author's philosophy and what lies ahead: "For some, the expedition through life seems to be somewhat of a long and exciting pirate treasure hunt. So I dedicate this book to various swashbuckling acquaintances in the hope that somewhere along the voyage each of these life-loving rascals will find his own personal treasure and by the end of the passage will have escaped hanging..." Ahhh. To sleep, perchance to dream... You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll kiss $6. goodbye... On the other hand, every man-jack and lady among us have been fleeced for lots more and gotten less. Much less. Available from Spanish Main Press, Red Hook Plaza-Suite 237, St Thomas, US, VI 00802. $6.25 ppd. A deal. The Solar Electric Independent Home Book by Fowler Solar Electric, Inc. Reviewed by Bob-O The Solar Electric Independent Home is a well-written book aimed at those folks who are thinking about building or refitting a home with photovoltaic electricity. It shows how to calculate the number of PV modules necessary to support your electrical needs based on "ballpark" insolation estimates and actual electrical usage. The book contain fairly detailed explanations of those PV modules, batteries, controllers, inverters, and other equipment that the folks at Fowler are familiar with. It contains good installation guidelines and diagrams for sample systems. The chapters on basic electricity and maintenance of a PV system make worthwhile reading for anyone wanting to learn about owning your own "power company". Their advice about finding a good dealer/installer to help you set up your system is well taken. The last 40 pages are devoted to useful wire loss tables, a good glossary, a huge listing of questionably useful solar insolation data, and the now obligatory Section 690 of the NEC. It should be mentioned that other devices and equipment than those mentioned in this book are available and should be investigated before installing a system. Available from: Fowler Solar Electric Inc.,POB 435,Worthington, MA 01098. 413-238-5974. $16.95. Sowing The Wind- Reflections on the Earth's Atmosphere by Louise B. Yound Reviewed by the Wizard This is a book about the space in which we live and breathe and have our being- The Atmosphere. Among the many interesting and well covered topics are: History of Atmospheric Exploration Atmospheric Dynamics & Weather Patterns Atmospheric Evolution & Life Long and Short Term Climate Cycles Solar Atmospheric Effects Effect of Human Activity on the Atmosphere Solutions to Atmospheric Problems There are 14 pages of references at the end of this 200 page book. At first I thought I would not like this book. I was wrong. It is entertaining, interesting and easy to read. The science parts are geared to both layman and initiate. If you are interested in the atmosphere and its effects on life & ecology, read this book. Sowing the Wind is published by Prentice Hall Press, 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023. The book is a 5.5" by 8.5" black and white paperback and its ISBN# is 0-13-083502-1. Cost is $9.95. Efficient Washing Machines for Home-made Electricity by James F. Forgette Reviewed by Richard Perez This booklet is an A to Z manual for the transformation of standard, watt- guzzling, washing machines into power sippers. It contains information about converting virtually any washer with high efficiency DC motors. Conversions are to 12 VDC, 24 VDC, and even high efficiency conversions for 120 vac from an inverter. See Jim's article in Homebrew this issue for a sample of the swell techie info in this booklet. This manual is extremely thorough and detailed, covering all aspects of washing machine conversion. Some of the most useful and hard to find information is about selecting the best washer for conversion to a super-efficient DC motor. This manual represents Jim's extensive search for the perfect washing machine. He's tried them all and shares his extensive , hands-on experiences easily with the reader. That's right, the manual is fun to read and filled with funky, hard-won wisdom. This manual is 40 pages in an 8.5" by 11" black and white format. Cost is $10.00 from Wattevr Works, POB 207, San Andreas, CA 95249 ù 209- 754-3627. Wildfire Across America by Trooper Tom Reviewed by Bob-O If you are part of a rural fire fighting organization, or planning to start one, you need this book. If you are considering employment with a state or federal agency as a wildland firefighter, you should read this book. This book also contains very useful information about fire protection for the rural homeowner, you'll just have to dig a bit to find it. The author's basic technique for residential fire protection is constructing two relatively small fire breaks in concentric circles around the dwelling. Between the fire breaks you remove, by burning or clearing, most of the "kindling" type of fuels that carry a fire along. The real beauty of this method is that it can be done with very little or no long-term visual impact. The visual landscape is one of the reasons that folks live in the country in the first place, so more homeowners are likely to use such a technique to get fire-safe than the classic wide and ugly firebreak. The only thing I totally disagree with is the author's recommendation against the use of chainsaw chaps. A chainsaw is a useful but dangerous piece of gear. Any operator, whether he/she be professional or not, in an emergency situation needs all the protection he/she can get. Do-do happens. Overall, this is a very worthwhile book. The rural homeowner's best insurance against wildfire is his/her own efforts to make their home fire-safe. Wildfire Across America will help with these efforts. Where else can you get a good fire insurance policy for under $20.00? Available from: Trooper Tom's Fire Protection Company, POB 669, Selma, OR 97538. 503-592-2135. $17.95 ppd. The Complete of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian Reviewed by Tom Heinrichs (c)1991 Tom Heinrichs This is a different kind of homebrew than Home Power readers are used to. There are no FET's, rheostats, or puffs of capacitance mentioned in this book. We're talking barley, hops, and yeast in The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. It costs the large American breweries a few cents to produce a bottle of beer. So where does the other forty-seven or so cents they charge for their product go? It goes to the Big Three in our consumer society: advertising, packaging, and distribution. Yes, you're paying to see washed up jocks push a product on TV, for containers the have to be melted down and remanufactured in order to be reused, and for gasoline to truck the stuff around. But there is a better way: get a copy of Charlie Papazian's The Complete Joy of Home Brewing. This book will tell you everything you need to know about how to make your own beer that is approximately 947 times better than the stuff that passes as beer in American convenience stores. The plan goes like this: first, lay your hands on the necessary equipment. You need a five gallon bucket with a lid or a five gallon glass water bottle ($0-20), a rubber stopper and fermentation lock ($2), a hydrometer to measure the density of the beer ($4), three feet of plastic tubing to siphon the beer into bottles ($1), and a bottle capper ($4-12). You also need a big (3 or 4 gallon) kettle to boil the ingredients in. Second, you buy the ingredients (malted barley extract, hops, and beer yeast) for about twenty dollars. Third, you boil the stuff up, mix it with water in your big bucket, and add beer yeast. Put the lid with fermentation lock installed on it on the bucket. The fermentation lock is a one way valve. It lets the carbon dioxide out of the bucket as the yeast turns the sugars from the barley into alcohol and CO2, while keeping the air out. Now you have to wait about a week for the yeast to do its thing. When the density of the beer (measured with your hydrometer) has stabilized, it's time to put it in bottles. You add 3/4 of a cup of corn sugar to the fermented beer and syphon it into bottles scrounged (reused!) from the recycling bin and cap them. The yeast uses this bit of sugar added at the end to make a little bit more alcohol and carbon dioxide. Wait another week for this carbon dioxide to form and be trapped in solution and carbonate the beer, then you're ready to drink your five gallons (50 bottles) of beer. That's the quick rundown. You really need to lay your hands on The Complete Joy of Homebrewing for the whole story. Charlie Papazian will get you started with lists of ingredients, equipment, and instructions, and carry you just about as far as you want to go, even to the "Advanced Homebrewing" chapter where he tells you how to malt your own barley. Want to know what "malting" is, how yeast does its thing, or why there are hops in beer.* You'll find it in this book. You'll also find scores of recipes and discussions of the various types of beers from around the world. Grow your own hops; make your own Guinness Stout. This book is an information bonanza. You might worry that a book with an information density as high as this one has might be dull--the Gray's Anatomy of beer, or something. Don't worry, The Complete Joy of Home Brewing is extremely well written and FUN to read. Papazian has a conversational writing style and provides information at several different levels: if you just want to know how to make the stuff, it's here. If you want the gory details of enzymatic actions, the fermentation process, or water chemistry, you'll find it in this book. You will be inspired to action by this book. Once you get going, you will find your own beer tastes better because it's made from better ingredients and because it doesn't have the bad karma associated with it from the national advertising industry, disposable containers, and energy spent moving what is mostly water all over the country. Your own beer is inexpensive ($20 for fifty bottles!) It's also more nutritious. You pay $8 per pound for nutritional ("brewers") yeast at the health food store. All those B-complex vitamins are found in your bottle of homebrew. But mostly, your own beer will taste better and be because you made it yourself. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing: you need a copy. Access: The Complete of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian is published by Avon Books, a division of The Hearst Corporation, 105 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. 1984, cost: $8.95 paperback (331 p.), ISBN: 0-380-88369-4 Homebrewing supplies: look in the yellow pages under "Winemaking"; mail order: look in the classified adds in the back of Popular Science (or another hobbyist magazine) under "Winemaking" Tom Heinrichs POB 84411, Fairbanks, AK 99708