Light in the Forest Hi HP Crew, Thanks again for your wonderful magazine! AE is now! I've been living with Kyocera solar power and a Honda generator as backup for 7 years now. I use the generator only a few times a year. When I use the generator it's usually to see if it still works. Have to run it every once in a while to keep it happy. Here's something campers may be interested in. I tried something different this last summer while on a camp trip to a remote part of Sequoia National Park. I brought along my PowerStar 200 inverter, 100' extension cord and a Panasonic 18 watt Electronic Light Capsule mounted in a portable housing. The housing has a clip that can attach to anything 1 1/2" or smaller. I plugged the PowerStar into my cigarette lighter, ran the cord into camp, clipped the lamp on a branch over the cooking table and turned it on. It takes a little while for the capsule to warm up (2 to 5 min). It was in the low 30s. After it warmed up we had more light then we've ever had in a remote camp. It was great! Everyone loved it! Cooking in this good light was much easier than using hand held, white gas or propane lights. We ran the light for about 4 hours the first night and 5 the second. I was a little worried about being able to start my truck in the morning. No problem! The truck battery still had lots of power. I will be using this set up from now on. It adds a whole other dimension to night life in camp. Enclosed is a photo of capsule and housing. Note the capsule actually touches the plastic housing. This is not a problem. The capsule puts out little heat. Here is my renewal for another 2 years. Keep up the good work with HP! Sincerely, Rick Nieme, POB 13152, Coyote, CA 95013 INSERT PHOTO Great idea, Rick. Brings back memories of cooking RiceARoni on a Colman camp stove while holding a candle with one hand, to see what I was doing. What an improvement. It would be handy to keep in the car for an emergency light too. - Kathleen Exhorting Exides Dear Richard, I appreciate your advice re. the Exide battery problems. These batteries, now over 8 years old, appear to me to be going out. Even a heavy charge with my generator - 50 amps or so, will no longer bring the voltage up to 28 Volts. After a fair amount of charging, I can get them to about 27.5 Volts - but they do a lot of heavy gassing in the process. (I can recall when they would hit 30 volts with no problem). If I get them to 27.5 volts and remove the charger, they will drop back to 26 volts immediately. A load of even 10 amps or so, at this stage, will drop the voltage to about 25.2. At this small discharge rate (remember these are 750 AH batteries) the voltage will drop to about 24 within an hour or so. Further discharge and the voltage will drop to about 23.8. At this 23.8 level, if the charge is resumed then the voltage will IMMEDIATELY jump to 26.5 or thereabouts. Remove the charging source and once again the voltage will drop back to around 24.8 or 25 volts. However, if I allow the wind turbine or the solar array to charge the batteries while they are being discharged, then this float condition will allow a voltage of between 25 to 26 volts - depending on whether the charge current exceeds the load or not. When the wind is strong, you can see the battery voltage 'follow' the wind peaks - up as the wind gusts and back down if the wind falls off. In other words it appears to me that the batteries are responding rapidly to charge and discharge loads and not really taking any of the charge and holding it. Again, let us say that there is a strong wind, 40 amps or so, and this continues for a couple of hours. A couple of kilowatt hours are pumped into the batteries, the batteries are just not taking this power - because if you try to draw out even half of what is supposed to have gone in, it just isn't there. Also, if we get a dead still night, with no charge going in to the batteries, I would run out of power half way through the night. Although the load would only average about 300 watts or so on the inverter. I won't bore you with more because it seems to me that all the elements of a sick battery are here. But more alarming, even to attain 27 volts with a heavy charge going in, the gassing is tremendous (Does a battery gas more as it ages?). This gassing has caused explosion of the Hydrocaps, splitting of the battery tops and, in one case the four corners of the battery split from the top down to a length of about 5 inches! And electrolyte all over the place is not pleasant! This long epistle is no longer for the purpose of getting your advice on what to do! But merely in the hope that some of my experiences with these batteries might be of help to you should you experience some similar problem in the future. Incidentally, these Exide 750 AH batteries are very poorly made. Both the tops and sides, particularly the sides are made of extremely thin material. Paper thin it seems. The cells themselves, if not strapped into a close fitting plastic framework, could never take any kind of stress. One would have thought that this size of cell which is about 6 inches square, 29 inches high and weighs over 100 lbs., would have been in a rugged case of similar material and construction as for an automobile battery. And I paid well over 4000 dollars for the set (24V). Anyway, after some consideration, I have purchased 12 ex-telephone cells from Northwest Energy. In the hope that these 2000 AH cells will allow me to demand a very shallow discharge trough - something like 20% while at the same time giving me sufficient capacity within the parameters of the 'gentle' discharge cycle. In actual fact, with the wind and sun, on an average day, producing somewhere around 12 KWH per day, the batteries should be virtually on float 90% of the time. Hope I have not bored you too much! I really must get a Xmtr fired up on 20 Meters so that we could arrange a QSO some day! P.S. The freight charges (Truck to Miami) SHIP to here from Miami, amounted to more than 1/2 of the cost of the batteries themselves - I sure hope they are good! Best Regards, Frank Delisle, Carib Aviation Ltd., POB 318, St. John's, Antigua, West Indies. Hello, Frank. Yes lead-acid cells gas at lower voltage when they age. I don't really know why, but we've noticed this as have many others. Keep us posted on the cells from Northwest Energy. Ð Richard Solar Sailor People - Yes, we sailors do know our solar. To me, sailboats and boat-livers have pioneered actual solar use, from power to hot water to propulsion. We are aware of the great advantages possible by using the sublime forces of the wind, tides and currents, and the sun. Each boat is its own little world and must budget power accordingly. There's no "jump start" at sea. I would be happy to write for you concerning marine uses of solar power. Really this should be a regular feature in every issue. I spend half the year in Florida building and using solar systems and the balance in Maine at a Solar engineering commune that helps poor woods people get power. In Maine, folks don't have to get off the grid, as they never could afford to get ON it. The point is that I am aware of what is happening with solar applications in boats and homes. On boats we use techniques and take them for granted while they remain experimental for home use. Cruising boats are a great test bed, sailors communicate a lot between themselves and products "shake out" quickly in this harsh environment. Look to the boats for the cutting edge. Thanx, Russell X. Braen, 1124 Ave C, Riviera Beach, FL 33404 We are getting more mail from our readers afloat all the time. If you would like to submit an article read the 'Writing for Home Power' in Issue #24, page 84 for guidelines. We'll be happy to consider your article for publication, Russell. A great deal of our information comes from readers who are do-ers, like yourself. - Kathleen Hot Ideas Dear Home Power Magazine: Enclosed please find a check for $10.00 to renew my subscription. I read every issue cover-to-cover several times. My girlfriend sighed as she handed me the latest issue fresh from the mailbox and made some comment about losing me again to Home Power for a couple days. I would like to be able to tell you that I am basking in PV created light from my 12 panel Kyocera array atop two Zomeworks trackers which have helped to cool the drink I just took out of my Sunfrost fridge. But, alas, here in the recession-plagued Northeast the mortgage and health insurance don't leave many excess dollars. But, still I have come up with a couple of insanely simple ways to conserve and reduce grid use. When the weather allows, my morning shower is solar heated via the GARDEN HOSE. I have roughly 11' of green and red garden hose laid out in the back yard with a spray head on the end and I put the end of it through the bathroom window when I am ready for my shower. The 100' of hose gives just enough water for a warm if conservative shower. It just starts to get cool at the end. Another 50' to 100' of hose would be just right. Recovery time in full sun is amazingly fast - about 20-25 minutes - and that is with lengths of green hose and red hose. There were a couple of days in mid summer when the water coming out of the hose was too hot to use. If you use black hose you'll need to be creative and hook it up to a mixing valve to mix in cold water or you'll fry for sure. Black hose and a mixer would also allow for a shorter length of hose. At laundry time, I run the hose through the basement bulkhead door and use the warm water for the washing machine. The present length of hose only allows for about half of the water necessary for a load. Here, black hose would be greatly beneficial. I recommend using high-quality hose, not the cheap plastic stuff. Sears sells hose of varying quality. Their best hose comes with a lifetime warranty but they caution the user not to leave it in the sun. Who uses garden hose in the shade, anyway? The life of the hose will be lengthened if the user remembers to turn off the supply valve after use. More than once I have come home to find aneurisms in the hose where heat and constant pressure found a weakness in the hose. The only other caveat is to move the hose around in the yard every couple days if you value the appearance of your lawn (assuming of course that you have one). Failure to do so will leave tracks of yellowed grass across your yard. In the winter, when I must resort to the Aquastar 125 tankless propane-fired heater, I utilize the essence of simplicity in grey-water heat extraction to recover the heat in the shower water. I close the drain and let the water build up in the tub. I leave the water there for a few hours until it has given up its heat to the air and then let it drain out. Why waste all that heat to the sewer or septic tank? The only two drawbacks here are: 1.) grey-water around your ankles (rinse it off if it bothers you) and 2.) Much more frequent need to clean the tub (I need the exercise anyway and I use cold water to do the cleaning). Just think how much energy would be saved if everyone did this. In larger households showers can be staggered to allow time for the water of the preceding shower to give up its heat. Thanks for a great cutting-edge magazine! Thomas J. Brandolini, 17 Rowell Rd., East Kingston, NH 03827 ¥ 603-642-4263 Tom, if we could get everyone to do the right thing the world would be a lot different place. We all must do what we can when we can. You have certainly given us easy, viable ways to conserve heat and energy as related to water in the home. Keep up the good work. - Kathleen Protect Your Potential Hi Richard: First let me wish you and Karen a very happy - safe Christmas and New Year season. I met you both in Amherst at the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair (in both 1990 and 1991). I have long been a reader of your publication - back when it was a free magazine. Thank you for your very informative article "Careers in Renewable Energy" (issue #26). I read your article with great interest, as I found many parallels between the Renewable Energy business and my small business of Architecture Design and on site land use planning. We specialize in passive solar design - good cents energy efficient homes and super insulated homes mainly. Like the Renewable Energy industry in your article, we too are in our infancy and we too find it very hard to generate a continuing client flow (as well as cash flow) over time or to build a business on repeat clients. Advertising seems to be the key to this problem, but with poor cash flow its hard to maintain an effective advertising campaign over an extended period of time. Yes, I am still struggling and yes, I am still learning from my mistakes, but I do believe I could help others in their infancy. Other than the obvious and necessary trappings of starting a new business I have found the following issues and items to be very important in the operation of my small architecture design and planning business. 1. Define your business services - Let the client know (in writing) what he or she is paying for, and more importantly what he or she is not paying for. 2. Protect your drawings and design work - never relinquish or surrender your master drawing sheets. I have found some home builders (my clients) will use my work as stock or off the shelf drawings and will use them over and over again with no just compensation to you for your work or design services. On each and every sheet of your drawings place your copyright protection clause and point this clause out to your client before the start of construction. The clause I use on my drawings reads as follows: 1) When you as our client request and purchase the services of Contemporary Designs, we grant to you, our client, the right to use all Service documents and drawings to construct a simple house or building. All blueprints, plan drawings (which includes floor plans, elevations, sections and details), sketches and written documents are the sole property of Contemporary Designs and are protected under Federal Copyright Laws, Title XVII of the United States Code and Chapter 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Contemporary Designs retains title and ownership of all service documents and drawings. These service documents and drawings cannot be copied or reproduced by any means for any purpose, in addition these service documents and drawings cannot be used or resold to any person or persons without the written permission of Contemporary Designs. 3. Protect your business and yourself against legal suits - never specify structure components (unless given in the building codes or engineered by a licensed engineer with his or her seal) on your drawings - items like beams, columns and concrete reinforced footings. The statement of use on my drawings for wood trusses reads as follows: 1) Contemporary Designs does not provide engineering or design services for roof or floor trusses. These services shall be provided by the truss manufacturer or supplier. In addition, Contemporary Designs takes no responsibility for the engineering or design decisions of the truss manufacturer or supplier. Of course there are many, many more items and issues to consider when starting a new business, but most of these considerations are common sense issues, common to nearly all businesses. So Richard, like you, I don't have a crystal ball or a Wizard in my back pocket. But I do see a growing need and life long opportunity for the Renewable Energy Industry and related architectural design and planning profession. An opportunity and business a couple can build over time. But one must bear in mind, this is still an infant industry and like all infants they take time and a great deal of understanding and care. I thank you again for your and Karen's hard work and let's look forward to an even better 1992. Sincerely Yours, Russell K. Klug, Contemporary Designs, 218 W. 11th Ave., Oshkosh, WI 54901-6410 ¥ 414-426-0963 This is all very good information to have, Russell. Thank-you for sharing it with us. It is important to protect yourself and your clients in any business. It is essential in starting fledgling industries like architectural design and planning and Renewable Energy related companies. - Kathleen Thanks for the flowers, Russell. It seems to me that renewable energy and business are both necessary. After all, if no one uses say PV modules, then all the info and swell benefits are worthless. Knowing how to use PVs is meaningless if you can buy a module. Ð Richard Biogas Books Dear Home Power, I was very interested to read Mr. Rutan's methane gas article. His is one of the clearest and most experienced summaries I've seen, and I look forward to more of his writings. If you or your readers would like to learn more about biogas in the third world, I recommend 'A Chinese Biogas Manual" (available from VITA, 1815 N. Lynn St., #200, Arlington, VA 22209 ¥ 703-276-1800). This handbook was directly responsible for the construction of several million biogas pits in China. VITA publishes two other biogas booklets, '3-Cubic Meter Biogas Plant' and 'Understanding Biogas Generation'. Both are informative and include good bibliographies. Another progressive application of methane is in natural gas vehicles. This idea isn't new -- remember the "chicken manure-powered car"? - - but it is now receiving widespread promotion and technical support. The 1990 Clean Air Act gave NGVs a big boost by requiring cleaner cars in ozone polluted cities. A nationwide switch to NGVs would nearly eliminate coastal oil spills and groundwater contamination from leaking underground storage tanks. Natural gas is a domestic resource, and though it's mostly nonrenewable today, that could change as we become wiser about using what we now waste. Some developments in this field are covered by the American Gas Association's Natural Gas Vehicle Newsletter (Bi-monthly, $192/year, but free to government agencies and gas utilities. AGA, 1515 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22209 ¥ 703-841-8558). Keep the love and sunshine goin' round. L.J. Aurbach, 2811 McGill Terr. N. W., Washinton D.C. 20008 Thanks for the info, L.J. Be sure to read Mr. Rutan's article in this issue on yet another, but important aspect of methane production. - Kathleen Packing Problem Dear Richard, I deeply appreciate Home Power Magazine. Thank you and all those working with you. I have a suggestion for Things That Work! articles. In them, the author seems to praise the packing that the equipment comes in regardless of whether it is molded styrofoam, bubble pack or styrofoam peanuts. There are major environmental problems with these packing materials even the ones that do not use CFCs (which are depleting the earth's protective ozone layer) as their blowing agent during the manufacturing process. And yes, we are reusing them when possible but they, in actuality are usually re-used only once. Oil based packaging is really not biodegradable in our lifetime. It is made from a non-renewable resource and is a litter problem and a wild life hazard. So far, the alternatives (such as popcorn, shredded newspaper or molded cellulose) aren't totally perfect either but then living with limitations, paying more up front for long term savings and living by our environmental ideals is not new for us. Please encourage packaging that works! Two year sub enclosed. Thanks again. Rob Harlan, 42451 Road 409, Mendocino, CA 95460 ¥ 707-964-6104 We do encourage packaging that works, Rob. A lot of the gear we are talking about sending through the mail or shipping companies are expensive electronics that need real protection. We bought a hot air popper and organic popcorn to use in shipping but we rarely get to use it. We get so many styrofoam peanuts that by reusing them for packing we don't need anything else. One of our advertisers, PowerStar Products Inc., sent us an item packed in cornstarch squigglies. We applaud their effort to protect the earth. The cornstarch peanuts will disappear if you put them in water. It is non toxic packing. They have already been used to pack a shipment we made to someone else. We are currently looking into where to get this kind of packing material. - Kathleen Passive Aggressive Dear Richard, Your magazine is terrific, keep it up! I must comment on one article however that is significantly misleading. I hope you will be able to publish this so as to set the record straight. Passive vs Active Trackers In your comparison of active and passive trackers (Things That Work: Wattsun PV Tracker Issue #25) you may have overlooked a few critical points: Reliability, Accuracy requirements, Output comparison, Tracking and ease of assembly. Reliability. I have had a lightning strike a few feet from my passive tracker; it was unaffected, of course. It did take out some nearby electronics however. Of course along the Pacific coast lightning may not be a problem, but it sure is around here in Albuquerque. As a result of this experience I now make sure that any electronics I install outdoors will withstand high voltage arcs (30-50 KV from a CRT tester -- like a cattle prod) at least to the case. I wonder if an electronically driven tracker would survive nearby lightning? Accuracy. This is not very pleasant for a flat plate collector. The array output varies as the cosine of the angle of incidence so and array pointing 10 degrees off will have its output diminished only 1.5% and at 15 degrees error the output is down only 3.41 percent! At 20 degrees off it's down 6 percent which shows there is no point tracking in the declination (N-S0 direction since you get less than this error on the average (about 10 degrees) by adjusting just twice a season at the equinoxes. Comparison. What is needed is an accurate comparison by a third party (how about you?) of the two systems for the TOTAL energy gained during a normal year rather than a misleading statement that the two axis tracker is 40% better than a fixed collector which is only true for a few days in the middle of summer. (Who would ever use a fixed array, anyway, even if it weren't a tracker, PV prices being what they are.) An accurate comparison would show an 8 or 9% improvement for which I for one would not be willing to pay the cost in dollars and low reliability for the more complex two axis electronic system. Winter and morning tracking. Sluggish tracking is NOT caused by the cold. (If it were, hot air balloons would not work well in the winter either.) It is caused by wind and low or hazy sun since it's the temperature DIFFERENTIAL between the two sides that determines the torque available to turn the array. In the AM this difference is low because the sun is weak, so the energy is lost because slow sun acquisition is very little at that time. Assembly. It took me 10 minutes to get my tracker out of the box and onto the pole. Indeed one big reason for buying the pre-welded assembly was the lack of hassle of obtaining a trouble free mounting system after having wrestled with some setups of my own. Tom Stockebrand, P. E., 1013 Tramway Ln. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87122 ¥ 505-292-4261 Thanks for your opinions, Tom. I still maintain that the Wattsun will outperform thermally operated trackers. I am ready to put up a thermal tracker right next to the Wattsun, put the exact same panels on it, and monitor the output of both trackers with Ampere-hour meters. How about it thermal tracker makers, anyone want to accept the challenge? Ð Richard High Heat Dear Richard, I have been a reader of your magazine since issue #4 and have always enjoyed your fine magazine and the articles you select. I am writing you this letter in reference to issue #25 and the article by Tom Lane entitled "Solar Hot Water". Tom's ideas and system directions may work great in the Florida area, and 2,000 plus customers sure indicate that they do, however, I live in Colorado, at an altitude of 8,500 feet above sea level and I think that you ought to mention to your readers that at altitudes above about 4,800 feet, Tom's system will be in for some MAJOR problems... At altitude, even when you have cloudy days, ...days when my eight 45 watt Solavolt panels combined aren't putting out more than 2 amps total. We still have solar infra-red infiltration great enough to heat water in the water panels up in excess of 130 degrees. If I were to follow Tom Lane's plans, my pump would never come on, and I would literally boil the water in my solar panels. I too believe that a good system will pay the average household back in saved $$$ in two to four years, but I would say that a differential controller in the system is a must have item, if one plans to install such a system at altitude. I have taken a course here in Colorado at the local Community College on solar, and I have the dubious distinction of having the first building department "approved" solar hot water system in Arapahoe County, Colorado. I too have installed or assisted many different systems here. Keep up your fine publication, and know that I will continue to read your magazine from cover to cover every other month. Why don't you go monthly? Sincerely, H. Allan Burns, POB 97, Silvercliffe, CO 81249 Hi, Allan. Renewable energy is site specific. What works well in one environment may only last a week in others. Thanks for sharing your info. As for going monthly, I don't think so. We are interested in quality. We are also up to five people full time to deliver this quality to you on a bimonthly basis. We'd need four times the crew to do it monthly. People who a delirious and committed enough to work with the HP crew are hard to find. Richard Temperate Panels Dear Mr. Perez: I imagine I am not the only one to have sent you a letter of congratulation on your article "Home Power Measures PV Performance". I hope that you continue your evaluation next summer. A practical question I have for you is this. Have you been able to establish what the temperature difference is between a panel at 50 C and the ambient? I realize that the presence of wind (or breeze) will be a contributing factor, but it would be nice if you had some data on the subject. It will help estimate the "worst case" condition in areas like the desert Southwest. I did a lot of calculations based on the graphs you published, and I have come with derating factors well in excess of the 0.4%/C above 25¡ C which I thought was a good approximation. Have you looked into this derating factor? I am afraid that reading the values from the axis might introduce a sensible error in this calculation. Sincerely Yours, Hector L. Gasquet, 10909 Bill Collins, El Paso, TX 79935 Hello, Hector. You will find that a PV module will run about 20¡C. hotter than the ambient air temperature on a windless day. On windy days we have seen modules producing full power and only about 5¡C. hotter than the ambient air. Figure on a power loss of about 1% per degree Centigrade above 25¡C. Ð Richard Paper Caper Greetings! I was finally able to pick up a copy of HP (#25) locally when an environmental products store opened recently, here in the Hampton Roads area. It doesn't explain why I haven't subscribed yet, but that'll come soon, plus there is an order for back issues on the way! As an advocate of alternate/renewable energy for MANY years, I find myself agreeing with about 80% of what I read in HP and related publications. I DO have a question about a recurring comment made by you folks, usually in your replies to letters. It has to do with not sending out things like renewal notices, etc., so's you can cut down on paper usage and "save a couple of trees". I view the effect as causing more harm than good. Each time someone misses a renewal and goes without an issue until he/she realizes it, that's another "pass around" issue lost which could otherwise influence the one or two folks locally to make the switch, start a subscription, write a Congressman, etc. Almost an exponential effect. Additionally, how do you make up for lost opportunity? It might have been THE one. The fewer snags in getting the word out, the more folks get on the bandwagon, the more the industry grows, the SOONER we can save our resources on a large scale. You want to save a couple of trees (literally a couple) now? Okay...it might cost more in the long run. There's also the give and take aspect of subscriptions. You expect us to tell you when our address changes... we expect you to tell us when our renewals are due. Lastly... if you are concerned about excess paper usage, either get the paper with a high content of recycled already in it, or get your paper from a mill which grows trees especially for paper products. That way you don't get the guilt about using "old growth". Otherwise, I'm very impressed with the quality of the magazine in virtually all aspects, especially the broad advertising base. Keep it up!!! Respectfully, E. R. Fuhrmann, ETC(SS) USN, Naval Guided Missles School, Dam Neck Code 5017, Virginia Beach, VA 23461-5250 Actually, E.R., when one of our readers finds that they have missed an issue they usually send their renewal check with an order for that back issue. One missed issue is usually enough to keep the reader checking that mailing label after that. We got terrific response from Barkwheat's reminder in the last issue. Many people re-upped ahead of time, which is just fine with us. Maybe it's different on the East Coast, but here in the land of the clear cut we'd rather 'save a couple trees' than add to the pile of unnecessary mail most people receive today. Any one who would make the switch, start a subscription or write a congressperson certainly has enough on the ball to check their mailing label and be responsible for themselves. - Kathleen International Interest Dear Home Power Folks; The past six months have been incredibly busy and productive for us. Completely the second hull of our 31' Wharram catamaran has been top priority. Finally, last week we rolled out #2 and joined the pair with laminated hollow varnished wood beams which we built 5 years ago. There's still much to do: hatch covers, decks, cockpit, rigging. etc. But, we're getting real close. Hope to be sailing by spring. Our boat shop has operated on photovoltaic power since January. I connected 4 marine batteries to four K-51s the day the world invaded Bagdad. Sure is a great feeling cutting plywood panels with my worm-drive Skilsaw. Now that's a battery powered tool with some real teeth. The Trace 2010 serves up plenty of 110 VAC with no complaint. A 12 VDC Flojet provides water from a shallow sandpoint, while a Paloma propane water heater provides welcome hot showers. Among the steady stream of visitors this past summer I noticed many non-Americans. Seems like folks are really moving around, exploring. In just a few months we've developed more than a passing acquaintance with a Russian couple, a Dutch sailor, a British innkeeper and her Aussie boyfriend, and three Asian Indians. A remarkable influx of interesting people for this somewhat remote coastal resort area. Every encounter is a story in itself, but let me describe briefly, the Indians. On an East-West tour across the US with an international group called Peace Trees, these three young men were curious to see alternative energy developments. Their home is the Sri Aurobindo community in Auroville, near Pondicherry. Theirs is an international community with various income producing business ventures, including the custom manufacture of uninterruptible power supplies. From New York City to Seattle my new Indian friends did not see any alternative energy applications. They ended up working through the month of August here in Nahcotta, at a neighboring restaurant, the ARK, which happens to be one of our oyster customers. So we made a lasting connection with our mutual interest in alternative energy. Grid power in their homeland is not reliable, so they enjoy a strong market for their products. These guys work in a shop in a spiritual community (3-4,000 members) that actually builds the inverters used in the uninterruptible power systems which they sell, install and service. They scrutinized our system carefully, giving the Trace high marks. They considered their Indian produced PV panels (typically 30 watts) to be of lesser efficiency and less finished in appearance than our Kyoceras. The Zomeworks Track-Rack fascinated them, as they routinely use fixed roof racks. Sometimes I feel discouraged by the immensity of environmental problems facing the US. Then occasionally my hopes are lifted by the surge of interest in conservation and renewable energy. It is especially encouraging to learn that the interest in renewables is truly global. P.S. No absolute need to print this letter. I won't be deeply hurt, although the Letters section is what I usually read first. In many cases I think the Letters could be improved with a bit of editing. Trim the extraneous. That's my only criticism of HP, and a small one too. No need for for a brutal machete job like the Time-Newsweek editing, just a little focusing. and more of 'em. Keep up the good work. Pacifically, Larry and Marge Warnberg-Welling, POB 43, Nahcotta, WA 98637 Hello, Larry and Marge. Take heart. If we've gotten ourselves into environmental trouble, then we will get ourselves out! Don't lose heart. Keep on tyring. We are making a difference. On editingÉ well, its kinda like eating peanuts, difficult to know when to stop. So rather than be tempted to put words in our readers mouths, or worse yet leave them out, we print every word of every letter. Ð Richard Doin' It Hi Friends, I like Home Power just as it is. It's the best magazine ever printed on Home Power and How to do it. I have all the issues and wouldn't part with them for any amount of money. I have an old satellite tracker I'm going to use for my Photovoltaic panels whenever I can afford them. I now use a 8 HP Wisconsin gas engine that runs a 120VDC gen and a 12 v Delco alt. plus a marine deep cycle batt and a 400 watt Tripplite inverter. I built the entire system and have only $200 invested. Thank you for all the info in Home Power. Never on grid, Jim Carr, Rt 2 Box 475A, Rush, KY 41168 We salute you, Jim. It is letters like yours that inspire us. - Kathleen Phone Home Hello Richard- We realize that many of your advertisers are selling telephone answering machines in their catalogues for the LOW price of approximately $100 or more. We feel that this is a rip off and wish for you to tell your readers that they can save a few pennies by shopping Wal Mart or K Mart. We notice that they have several to pick from, we are currently using Unisonic Products Corp of NY which we paid, not on sale, $39.95....Need I say more? These units come with a converter to change the 110 volts AC to 9 volts DC. Of course there is no guarantee that other models will or will not work it all depends on the transformer. Of course you will need an adapter to go from your 12 volts to 9 volts, which you simply plug into a cigarette lighter plug and set the voltage for 9 volts. You can buy these adapters from Radio Shack. We would appreciate you printing this and we are sure that your readers will also like to know about this, so they will not continually get ripped off. Sincerely, Charlie Collins, POB 852, La Verkin, UT 84745 ¥ 801-877-1061 Thanks for the info, Charlie. A penny saved... - Kathleen