LETTERS Dear Home Power People: We have gone through the first 3 issues of your Home Power Magazine, not only once but several times and find them chock full of the type of information that people such as us are really hungry for. It is the best we have seen since John Shuttleworth's Mother Earth Magazine of which we have a full library from day one. It is like Mr. Shuttleworth says in his letter, "Mother Earth is pretty dopey nowadays". In 1978 my wife and I set out to develop this 9 acres of land we own on top of a mountain here in Vermont, to be as near as possible, self- sufficient by the time we retire. We have constructed a 65 foot tower on top of which we have put a 450 watt, 12 volt DC windmill. Also we have built, as a back-up charging unit, a 12 volt DC alternator, designed our own control panel that feeds 2 separate battery packs. We also have a commercial built AC generator which we start up approximately once a week to do our washing, vacuuming, etc. We hope very soon to add solar panels for charging these batteries also. We have pure mountain spring water, gravity fed into our home. We also built our own compost toilet and garbage disposal. We heat our place with firewood cut from our own land, in a stove we built from 2 oil barrels which utilizes a catalytic combustor. We have set out fruit and nut trees, a variety of berries, grapes and of course we grow our own garden for vegetables. Any project requiring lumber we saw from our own stand of spruce with a portable sawmill, about any dimensions we desire. Too numerous to mention or itemize are many other projects either completed or in the process or in the planning stages. My wife and I have accomplished this by ourselves with the help of an old 1963 John Deere crawler and loader which we purchased some years back. Now we find ourselves, ten years later, in our late fifties and by ourselves doing this thing. We fear we will be unable or will not have time to complete all the potential that we can see for this goal. The solar alone which we have not even scratched the surface of, has great potential as we have excellent southern exposure, winter and summer, also we have the possibility of hydro which we have not scratched the surface of. What this all boils down to is perhaps there might be another younger couple out there that would be compatible to us and our ideas and lifestyle etc. that might be interested in investing in this lifestyle and working with us on a perpetual basis. In other words, working and investing towards these goals we have set and helping us through the rest of our lives accomplishing and living these goals and eventually ending up with everything themselves to go on with whatever should come. Perhaps you could print this letter in your magazine either as written or in condensed form and perhaps by doing so you could put us in touch with the right people. We would be interested in corresponding with any couple that would be sincere in this type of life style. Perhaps nothing would ever come of it but we thought it might be worth a try. We know no couples personally that really would be sincere in this type of living. In closing we would like to say to you Home Power people, please keep up the good work and keep the issues coming. Please find enclosed a small contribution in the form of a check to help you on your way. Good Luck & God Bless. Harry & Grace Cole, HCR 70 Box 73, Bridgewater Corners, VT 05035 Dear Home Power Friends: I wanted to drop you a note to let you know how much I have enjoyed your magazine. I'm sending you a list of a couple of my friends who I'd like to receive your magazine so that my copy doesn't have to travel so many miles each month from house to house before I can get a good look at it! I'm an amateur (Ham) radio operator and I would like to see if other Ham operators who enjoy alternative energy would like to meet on the airwaves to discuss the topic. If you would like to publish the following information it would be very helpful. Jim Minton, POB 190121, Anchorage, AK 99519 Radio Call: KL7JIJ Monitor Frequency: 14.292 Megacycles Dear Home Power Folks: A friend of mine has sent to me the first three issues of your Home Power Magazine. I have to say they contain the most informative and knowledgeable articles on A.E. I have seen so far. Keep up the good work! Enclosed please find a M.O. for $21.00 in U.S. funds for a subscription. From what I have seen in your first three issues this is a bargin. We live at mile 143 on the Alaska Hiway in Northern British Columbia, Canada and this is only 500 miles from the Artic Circle. At this latitude we have only 5 hours of sunlight per day in mid-winter, but in mid- summer we experience 18 hours of sunlight per day. We have been using PV power on our cattle ranch for 2 years and have found the solution to our power needs. Except for the months of Dec. & Jan., when we use our gen set once a week for charging, PV has provided all our power needs. To do this we adhear to strict power management practices that we have set for ourselves. Our system consists of an 8 panel array of 45 watt Kyocera modules, a BOSS 30A controler, Magnacharge 1200AH deep cycle battery bank, 1500W and 600W Trace inverters. Our only problem now is finding a tracker which will work in this climate where winter temperatures reach -40¡F and lower. At present we have our array on a ground based swivel arrangement that we turn & lock manually, periodically through out the day. If you or any of your readers have an answer for this problem we would appreciate hearing from you. Perhaps an article in your magazine on tracking in general would help me and others with different problems encountered. Our lights, water pump, fans, stereo, deep freeze and radio telephone are 12V. Our power tools, appliances, satellite reciever, 20" color TV, washer, dryer, and vaccum are all run by the Trace inverters. To date we have had no problems with any of the system components. The inverters, controller and batteries are all enclosed in one room inside our house, with the batteries vented to the outside. The British Columbia Government has recently installed (March 17/88) AH meters on our system to monitor cumulative data on charging and load usage. This project is to run for 9 months and ends Dec. 31, 1988. We record the meter readings daily along with weather conditions and any extra ordinary usage out of the norm. They are monitoring various systems throughtout the Province in the same way. There are thousands of motor driven generators in use all across Northern Canada as power grids are few and far between. The government is looking to other sources of power generation, to eliminate the use of fossil fuels as much as possible. After the project is finshed and the data correlated, and if it is found to be of a positive nature, the Government plans to hold seminars around the Province to educate and encourage the use of photovoltaics. Tax incentives and grants or low interest loans may be in order to help and encourage people to buy PV systems. If the other systems being monitored in this project work as well for their owners as ours has for us, these incentives may soon become a reality. Sincerely Yours, Bob McCormick POB 14, Pink Mountain, B.C., Canada V0C 2B0 I've been searching, with few results, for information and reading AE, especially Photovoltaics. And now a grandiose dose all at once. I've learned more in the last 5 minutes, than in the last 5 weeks. I'll be in contact with many of your advertisers. It's as though a whole new world has opened up. Thank You, Leif Juell, Bethel, VT Congratulations on a great idea for a magazine! I am now employed by electric utility and realize the inevitability of home power. I am proud to say that the utility understands this also and is working to promote renewables for the benefit of everyone. Let's keep working together! Dave Panico, Austin, TX Dear Wizard: Hopefully, my forty odd years of work with electricity does not disqualify my philosophical distractions. Your "three big pigs" commentary hit pretty close to the target. But your promise of a "free lunch" is trapped in the jaws of reality. Nature dictates that the mother makes a sacrifice to bring new life into the world. To paraphrase an ancient line: In everything you do, observe the workings of Nature. This can do much to encourage your success. In electricity, the word "generate" conveys a false impression. Energy conversion is the real process. We do not create energy any more than government creates wealth with the printing press and entries in it's debt ledger. We borrow from tomorrow. Unless you can enslave the Martians or con them into doing the conversion for us, it is not likely that perpetual motion will ever be more than a figment of vaporous imagination. Obviously, such natural restrictions should not be viewed as excuse to halt the search for more efficient and more environmentally acceptable methods of energy conversion. But until those restrictions are lifted by the Spirit forces that set the sun in orbit and decreed the law of Ohm, we are stuck with less than 100% in our energy conversion process. In humble recognition of you august powers I remain the Prairie Prophet. Nature lays many traps for the unwary, but continually brews new potions for her devotees. We but aspire to her hidden mysteries and hope to tap her as yet unrealized energies. Thanks Prairie Prophet. The Wiz. Thanks for publishing such a useful magazine. There is a group of families living here in Western NC using PV electricity and I thought our experience might be useful for others. Seven households in or near the Celo Community Land Trust are using PV's exclusively for electricity. Most of the houses are also passive solar for heat with wood backup. Most are using LPG for refrigeration and cooking. Commercial power is readily available here so the decision to go with PV's has been made for reasons ranging from a desire for independence, concern with the environment, to not wanting a 60 ft. wide corridor cut for power line access. We have been able to make some purchases as a group (panels, batteries) and thereby saved some on cost. We have also been able to share experience and skills which has made system installation easier. The table below gives details of the systems which vary widely in size and sophistication. Western NC is hardly ideal in terms of insolation, but except for late November-January, little back-up has been required. INSERT TABLE (in manuscript folder) PV PWR-- Panel rating in watts; most are single crystal, some Kyocera multicrystaline. BAT-- rated battery storage in amp-hrs; most are GBC-220 6V electric vehicle batteries. YRS--years of use. ACCESSORIES--1) charge controller 2) inverter 3) tracker. REFRIGERATION-- number in ( ) is year of manufacture; Sunfrost is on order and will be powered with additional panels. USES--1) water pump 2) AC tools 3) computer 4) clothes washer 5) lights 6) radio/sound/TV equipment 7) refrigeration/freezer. All DC systems are 12V. The 2 inverters are HEART H12-1000 watt; the tracker is a SUN SEEKER (Robbins Engineering) freon driven on a home made stand and has worked flawlessly for 3 years. Water pumps are FLOJET except for one microsubmersible deep well pump from Wind Light Workshop (Flowlight Solar). The clothes washer is Sears Model 11451, a front loader using 800 watts max, 400 during most of the cycle and less than 12 gallons of water. The computer is a 12MHz 286 with 44 MB HD using an LCD backlit screen and requires about 60 watts. Most houses are fully wired using #10 for the 12V. The Eagle 829B socket is used in some installations. This socket has one 120V standard vertical prong socket and one horizontal prong 220V socket. I use the 220V for 12V DC and the 120V for the inverted AC. One household has a backup 3000 watt AC generator charging through a 60 amp charger, one has a 30 amp auto generator attached (in winter) to a rototiller. The others use no backup. We would be interested in communicating with other people using home power in the area. Please write care of P. Hoover, 461 Hannah Br., Burnsville, NC 28714. I am writing this letter to alert folks to a new book called "ChemCom, Chemistry in the Community", 1988. This book is published by Kendall/Hunt of Dubuque, Iowa, and is authored by the American Chemical Society. It has had earlier editions in 1980 and 1985 as pilot programs. At first glance I thought this was a neat idea. The problem is that they seem to have left out clean power in favor of nuclear power as a solution to our power needs. When I questioned their representative about this, he said that it was no problem-- the students would come up with ideas like solar and wind. (This can be used as a classroom text.) It seems to me that omission would indicate a lack of importance. In Unit Three, "Petroleum: To Build or Burn?" section 3, "Alternatives to Petroleum", the opening page shows a nuclear cooling tower. Unit five, "Nuclear Chemistry in Our World", further promotes nuclear energy. Ideas about photovoltaics and/or wind are vaguely mentioned or not mentioned at all. If this concerns you as much as it does me, you might want to check to see if your school is using this book. I have not yet taken time to study it to see if the bias toward earth exploitation is found throughout the book. I would like to think that the ideas in this book might move the next generation in a positive direction. I feel it is a shame that methane and photovoltaics, which are power sources related to the study of chemistry, were not treated fairly. Ronald Solberg, RR#2 Box 149, Hills, MN, 56138 I am sitting, drinking my morning coffee, listening to a local community owned radio station not plugged into the National Network (commercial free), reading through issue #4 of Home Power, another unplugged outlet. We live in a house that works. Even though the temperatures fall below zero (F¡) consistently for two months each winter (at times the high is below zero) our wood consumption is below two cords per winter. Our greenhouses provide winter greenery and greens for eating, right in our kitchen. A hand pump provides water directly into the kitchen sink. Two Solarex, 3 amp panels charge a Sears commercial battery. The panels were unframed #1 quality purchased for $180.00 each plus $30.00 shipping. The battery was $75.00. Each of the 2 bedrooms has a 15 watt fluorescent light while the kitchen has a unit with (2) 8 watt tubes over the working area as does the desk/library area. A JVC DC-7 provides excellent sound on all radio bands (including short wave 16M to 120M), a stereo cassette & a linear tracking turntable. At full volume (which is never done) this unit consumes 1 amp @ 12 volts. Our gardens provide most of our food (no, we don't grow coffee). A root cellar is built into the kitchen and keeps whatever cool (even beer stays around 42¡-45¡F). We don't keep meat products so nothing spoils. We don't have word processors or computers, we prefer doing a lot of things by hand. There is a real zen-ness about chopping wood, pumping water & doing minimal laundry needs. Cooking is a family affair as is bathing in the sauna, which is the Heart of the house. We live near the headwaters of the Mississippi River where the water is pure, the air clean & the land is cheap. Wildlife is abundant- that includes some group get togethers. We don't have bills so we don't need to travel to a town to work at a job we don't like or agree with. We make enough money to live our simple life-style. This past winter a friend stayed in our home while we traveled in Mexico - Again, it wasn't costly. We crossed the border going South with $600.00 US funds. That kept Nancy, Dylan (our son), Be-Bop (our dog), & me all happy for the winter. I guess my point in bringing all this up is: The simpler we live the fuller our lives become. Imagine yourself naked in the woods, What do you need? Well, nothing if it's warm. If it rains, you need shelter. If it snows, you need heat. If company comes, you may need clothes. If your hungry - food. Thirsty - water. If we can approach our needs & insert a FEW wants it's quite easy to live without hurting the earth, while allowing our co-habitants of this paradise planet to have their needs met, as well. When alternative energy is discussed it is often approached from the opposite direction. "Lessee - what will I have to do without". I also wanted to comment on John Shuttleworth's letter. Yeah, things are bleak and it's getting late - but let's not give up. The best way to teach is by example, and when your own house is in order it gives you more ways to convince others. Peace to all you warriors of the Rainbow. Bruce Brummitt, POB 252, Osage, MN 56570 P.S. Anyone interested in cheap land & simple lifestyles are welcome to write. Richard Perez's article on radio telephones was excellent and parallels our experiences. But there is another alternative. The FCC has several narrow slots of frequencies that are alloted for radiophones. Our solar powered 12VDC equipment is in the 30 MHz band which is just above the CB frequencies. A number of things can determine which frequency to use but in general if your terrain is flat, use the higher frequencies; if mountainous use the lower frequencies. Our home is on a small island about 20 miles from Kodiak and the signals have to pass over (or bounce around) 2 ridges of mountains. R. Perez's description of simplex was accurate. Though we do not find the problem he does, and run two small businesses from our island. We find it easy to instruct the phone party that our equipment has an audio beep when we release the PTT key and that this is their signal that they can talk. The equipment consists of two radiophones and a computer that interfaces the phone line and the radio in town. The computer has 67 functions that are controlled from the touch tone pad on our home radio. The advantages: The FCC allows up to 100 watts on the phones. This is 4 times what is allowed to CB and VHF. You own (cost comparable to Perez's quotes for IMTS service) all the equipment. Therefore once the up front costs are paid your monthly phone bill is identical to someone in town. There are no call time limits, no increasing costs with length of calls and no charges in the future. Another important note on radio installations. Be sure your wiring will deliver the voltage required when transmitting. A one volt drop when you key the transmitter reduces the signal output by 50%. Send an SASE and I'll try to answer questions. Walt Cunningham, Bare Island, Port Bailey, Alaska 99697 Dear Home Power: WhatEVER is a retired journalism teacher doing writing a rhapsody in praise of an alternative energy mag? Well, its been a long time since my jaded eyes have seen the likes of HOME POWER, or feasted on such a palatable menu of info, philosophy, hope and IMAGINATIVITY! (Feel free to use my newly coined noun) The writing, flavored with each expert's totally readable style, leads me, simple step by step, to higher complexities. I intend to use your articles in the five schools in which I volunteer to teach "ham radio". And all is permeated with a generous world view that is absolutely essential if our ravaged planet is to nourish life. Your PRACTICAL programs are a gift to the third world, to future generations, tinged with a touch of poetry: "the amperage and the ecstasy...the best lightning protection is a pure heart." I even devour the ads, because they make sense and tend to be jazzy, like "Windlight Workshop", etc. etc. Having lived on a sailboat (ever so lightly lived) for 30 years, and shared it with a lot of young people devoted to "making a difference"...our primary contribution to our time has been to help raise consciousness (that trite but transformational phrase) by communicating and cooperating locally, globally. We've created a ham radio network among schools that tries to problem-solve pollution, waste, violence, etc. With HOME POWER helping us teeter out on the cutting edge of humanistic technology, we declare ourselves henceforth one of your satellites, co-keepers of the light. "Some say, I am laying bricks... others say, We are building a cathedral." Cosmically yours, Mary Duffield, Co-Director, Redwood Youth Foundation, 2355 Brommer St. Space 23, Santa Cruz, CA 95062 Hello Home Power: Keep up the good work folks. Us backwoods, do-it- yourself types need all the technical info you offer in your magazine. I have something to add to your article on Radiotelephones in Home Power #4. Not all Radio Common Carrier systems require operator assistance. The service that we use is direct dial in and out. We have our own phone number, even though it is a party line. A touch tone display is located on the back of the microphone. Also, we have two channels in our system. Incoming calls and in or out long distance are on one channel, while the second channel is for outgoing local calls. This allows us to make local calls without tying up incoming calls to everyone on the party line. Some other points of interest I can pass along as a one year veteran of Radiotelephones-1) Stand by power consumption of our Radiotelephone (a Kenwood which was about $1200 w/antenna) is 0.45 amps @12VDC. Unless you use your phone alot the extra power used during conversations is negligible. I figure 12 amp hours a day (24 hours) for ours. 2) Quality of service from Radiotelephone businesses varies greatly. Check around, not just for price, but for dependability, strength of signal and "busyness". 3) Make sure you can get the signal from the repeater at your house. There are many dead zones in the mountains. 4) The basic monthly rate of a Radiotelephone is two or three times that of conventional telephones. On the other hand your radiotelephone can be sold for a good price, if necessary, where as the phone line you would pay to run in always belongs to the phone company. 5) If the reception on your radiotelephone is somewhat marginal, don't let your batteries get below 50% charge or reception may suffer. Make sure and keep your wire gauge large enough since your Radiotelephone draws 12 amps or more when talking ("keying the mike"). 6) Reception can be degraded during cloudy or windy weather, especially with a marginal signal. 7) Your Radiotelephone should come with a full one year parts and labor warranty or forget it. These babies aren't cheap to fix. Just, want you good people at Home Power to know not everyone who reads your mag. is a subscriber. My neighbor brings over his, after he reads them for my inspection. This kind of "recycling" helps spread the word without burdening Home Power further financially, since you do it for free (amazing in this day and age!). Other subscribers please note! Thanks again and by the way, my neighbor and I are 100% AE powered. No nukes, no dams, just a good feeling inside! Craig Pageau, Fieldbrook, CA 95521 Thanks for your support and concern. Home Power's very life depends on our ad revenue, and this revenue depends on our circulation. So please sign up, Craig, and fill in the system info on the subs form. This is the best way you can help Home Power.