Book Description
As oil prices continue to rise, many people are starting to think about how to unhook from the power grid. The Renewable Energy Handbook focuses completely on off-grid, sustainable living and energy independence in a rural setting.
Author William Kemp and his wife designed their own high-efficiency off-grid home in 1991. They worked methodically to produce a home which has all of the standard "middle-class" creature comforts while using six times less heating, cooling, and electrical energy than the average Ontario home. Soon they were inundated with inquiries and decided to put their experience into book form in 2003.
This updated edition focuses specifically on off-grid concerns and contains chapters on:
• Energy conservation
• Heating and cooling
• Photovoltaic, wind and microhydro energy generation
• Battery selection, voltage regulation and inverters
• Backup power
Twice the page count of the first edition, it also includes enhanced chapters on home and domestic water heating, wireless communications and biofuels. A "Showcase of Homes" chapter provides a tour of various off-grid cottages and homes, and details the type of lifestyle that can be achieved for a given capital cost. The book is augmented with appendices and hundreds of illustrations, line drawings and photographs.
William Kemp is VP Engineering of Powerbase Automation Systems Inc. and a consulting electronics/software designer who develops control systems for low environmental impact hydroelectric utilities worldwide. He is a sustainable living and clean energy advocate working in renewable energy heating, energy efficiency, photovoltaic, microhydro and wind electric systems.
Customer Reviews:
A very informative guide to renewable energy........2007-07-19
I found this book to contain very good information about living the self-sufficient lifestyle. This book contains vast amounts of information about renewable energy and the various methods available. I will definetly use this information as a guide to building our self-sustaining home. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about green living.
The Renewable Energy Handbook: A Guide to Rural Energy Independence, Off-grid And Sustainable Living .......2007-06-09
This is an excellent book, because it has much information in general, different green ideas for your home. And that is important for you and the Planet, today and future.
A "must-have" for homeowners everywhere........2007-03-06
Consulting electronics and software designer and green technology advocate William H. Kemp presents The Renewable Energy Handbook: A Guide to Rural Energy Independence, Off-Grid and Sustainable Living, a handbook to home improvement via stretching one's energy dollars and supporting environmental concerns through powering one's home with clean, dependable, renewable energy. Especially valuable for homeowners who live far from utility poles and power grids, but useful for all homeowners, The Renewable Energy Handbook covers energy-efficient home design considerations, especially factors that should be taken into account when renovating an older home; tips for appliance selection; an in-depth primer for off-grid living; electrical production through photovoltaic means, wind turbines, micro hydro electricity production, batteries, and fossil fuel backup power sources; how to apply and connect all the different aspects of green power safely; and much more. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this home improvement guide for readers of all backgrounds. The Renewable Energy Handbook is for both energy-conscious do-it-yourselfers and homeowners seeking to educate themselves on what exactly they need to know before they call in a professional. In today's world of oil crises, electrical blackouts, high gas prices and increasing environmental depredations, The Renewable Energy Handbook is a "must-have" for homeowners everywhere.
R.E. Handbook by Kemp.......2007-01-10
Best single source of information on this subject I've seen, as a professional in this field. Though perhaps not enough detail for expert system designers, it nevertheless
covers each item in some depth and explains it on a level that the layperson can not just understand, but maybe enjoy reading. Very good summary of a very large subject.
Excellent. I'll be giving them out to my customers. Nick
Houser, Off Grid Services.
Excellent Reference Material.......2007-01-10
The Renewable Energy Handbook is the definitive guide to Off-The-Grid Living. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in protecting our environment, self-sufficient living or simply saving money through an efficient lifestyle.
Book Description
Off the Grid confronts the ecological and cultural problems associated with the way we get and use energy, and explains how it is possible to live in a beautifully designed home using much less--no matter where your home is located.
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Customer Reviews:
Stunning and inspirational.......2007-05-12
This is a tremendous book that provides great food-for-thought for those interested in both quality design and off- or nearly-off grid living. Even if some of the houses might be out of range as noted by one commenter, there are still boat-loads of ideas around every corner.
Great photos, too!
Inspiration for the earth-conscious homebuilder.......2007-04-07
My husband and I are looking into building an off-the-grid cabin, and Lori Ryker's book was really helpful for putting all the options in perspective. It is not a technical, in-depth how-to book; it is more of an overview of the different possibilities. The author, a working architect and a professor of architecture at Montana State University, looks at ten different homes that range from grid tied to completely independent for their energy needs. After reading Ryker's book we decided we could build a house that is entirely off the grid; in particular, I was inspired by the four entirely off the grid homes featured in the book, one of which was designed by the author. The homes were built for different environments and living situations--from a full-time 2620 square foot residence in a remote part of Australia, to a 620 square foot vacation cabin on an island in Minnesota, to a 2620 square foot vacation home that is open to the elements of the Texas Hill Country. Some of the energy solutions surveyed are relatively simple and inexpensive (collecting water in cisterns) and others are more high tech and expensive (solar electric panels). This book is a great starting place for someone who wants to see what the possibilities are.
Interesting, but not practical........2006-07-05
Although I liked this book, it is not necessarily helpful. Most of the featured homes are much too expensive for your average middle income homeowners. I was looking for housing solutions for the Southeastern US and like almost every other publication out there, this book completely ignores our region. I suspect it is because our hot, muggy conditions are not as conducive to off the grid living as the other areas featured.
Buyer Beware!.......2006-06-17
If you are looking for practical solutions for alternative energy sources this is not the book for you. This book is a "coffee table" book and provides no information on implementing alternative energy sources whatsoever.
The author displays no knowledge of any scientific principles. I suspect that she has no such knowledge since she actually refers to the four elements (i.e. that asinine Aristotelean concept: earth, wind, fire, water) and comes across as "pointy-haired golf" type with a degree from Harvard (yawn...), and a die hard member of the parasitic class of life (i.e those people who don't know anything about the universe other than how to operate their iPods and order coffee at Starbucks). She comes across as if she has never connected a single electrical device other than her hair dryer in her lifetime. I don't think she could state a single equation in physics or electrical engineering if her life depended on it. The only information in this book really is her vague generalizations about Edison, Ford, and the history of the energy which consists of only a few sentances.
This book is essentially a book full of pictures of houses. It does not even show photographs of the alternative energy sources used in the houses, just the houses themselves. If you have never heard of or seen a house before you may learn something from this book but otherwise you aren't going to get any knowledge out of it. If you have heard of a house before and would like to learn how houses can use alternative energy sources, I suggest you read "The Renewable Energy Hanbook."
Book Description
For nearly twenty-five years, poet Baron Wormser and his family lived in a house in Maine with no electricity or running water. They grew much of their own food, carried water by hand, and read by the light of kerosene lamps. They considered themselves part of the "back to the land" movement, but their choice to live off the grid was neither statement nor protest: they simply had built their house too far from the road and could not afford to bring in power lines. Over the years, they settled in to a life that centered on what Thoreau called "the essential facts."
In this graceful meditation, Wormser similarly spurns ideology in favor of observation, exploration, and reflection. "When we look for one thread of motive," he writes, "we are, in all likelihood, deceiving ourselves." His refusal to be satisfied with the obvious explanation, the single thread of motive, makes him a keen and sympathetic observer of his neighbors and community, a perceptive reader of poetry and literature, and an honest and unselfconscious analyst of his own responses to the natural world. The result is a series of candid personal essays on community and isolation, nature, civilization, and poetry.
Customer Reviews:
Best memoir.......2007-03-10
I hope everyone reads this book. It is charmingly written and a worthwhile read from the recent former poet laureate of Maine. His story motivates us all with its straighforward nature. Thank you, Baron Wormser and book seller.
thoughtful and thought provoking.......2007-03-02
Wonderfully crafted language. A polished gem. Resonance.
Few books, in recent years, have made me cry.
This one did.
This book should make the small mind uncomfortable........2007-02-18
This is the best memoir America has produced since Walden. It is the honest expression of intelligence, simplicity, humility, and wisdom. These qualities upset the small mind which perceives everything in its own terms of egotism. But they are actually the small and individual facets of anyone who reflects the big mind. Mr. Wormser and his wife are polished mirrors and these essays are small gems of true humanity. While some essays may resonate more in this or that reader, every essay is a living child of the author and lives comfortably in the mind of the reader on its own merits. I'll stop before I say too much.
Brilliant meditation on writing, life, the natural world.......2007-01-03
Wormser is a sage, playful, exacting, pure writer, and this book is an absolute treat. The structure is wonderfully unconventional--his thoughts glide from one focused argument or narrative to the next like a bird moving from branch to branch in the woods. Looking forward to reading more prose (and poetry) from this author.
Book Description
An in-depth look at the strategies employed in sustainable home design.
Customer Reviews:
A start to becoming aware of what we should do.......2007-08-10
This book was really fun to read. The pictures were beautiful and the surrounding of most of the homes were incredible. Some times the floor plans were a bit confusing and one of them had no definitions for the numbers that represented the rooms. It definately inspired me to do more with less and to consider green building as my next project. I was a bit dissapointed in the definitions of some of the energy saving apparatuses. I wish that the book would have gone into more detail on the excerpts of geothermal, solar hot water, PV arrays, and wind turbines. At best these were teasers and left me wanting much more explaination. I will say it gave me a world of great ideas. I would be very interested in a book on totally off the grid, fully functional with flushing toilets etc incorporating all aspects of rain water collection, grey water heating and collection, optimal design to do this and more, plus sub 1200 square feet homes that offer options on what can be afforded. In depth explainations on all the buzz words like living machines what it entails (cost,size,optimal location, size vs. amount processed per hr or day or what? better diagrams with flow directions and larger in format etc. This should give the author another book to write that I for sure will purchase. I am well over 13!
Sustainable 4,000 sq' homes?.......2007-07-09
Nature is efficient. To become sustainable, we need to relearn the art of efficiency. The six "off the grid" homes featured in this book include two that are over 4,000 sq'. Did the author consider how much energy it took to build these things? The smallest house is about 1,600 sq' and it is the only one of the six that is actually off the grid. Four of the others are on intertie connections and one is featured because it uses geothermal. A more honest title would be "How to Generate Some of the Energy Required by Your Oversized House". This book demonstrates that sustainability depends not so much on changes in technology but changes in the way we think. Two books which I found helpful in changing my understanding of shelter are the classic "Owner Built Home" by Ken Kern and "The Hand-Sculpted House" by Evans, Smith and Smiley.
Product Description
Five arcres are the means, but independence is the end. In this sensee, independence signifies far more than material self-sufficiency. It involves all the elements of freedom, liberty, democracy, individualism. It implies the freedom to choose our place in society--or out of it; the liberty to take a chance and seek our own fortune...and the full expression of our own individual minds and wills, both in work and at rest. Five Acres tells about this type of independence and how to achieve it by working the soil. As bucolic as Walden or The Old Oaken Bucket, it is also a practical working guide to every aspect of small farming and country living. It examines questions of finance, water supply, sewage, livestock, the planting of crops, orchards, commercial fertilizers--organic and inorganic. It counsels tools, insect enemies and recommends something to sell every day.
Book Description
Alice looks at the phone and then glances at the clock. 13:55 EST makes - she counts on her fingers - about 6pm in Berlin. He'll be on his way home. Alice settles into the armchair and dials the number... If Alice hadn't bumped into Will then she would probably never have phoned that afternoon. And if Alice hadn't called, then Michael, poor Michael, might still be alive today. In a digital age of world-spanning communications and easy travel these stories explore how interconnected and yet fragmented our lives have become, and how - no matter where we live or what we do, no matter how different our lifestyles - the universal desires for love and happiness draw us ever onward.
Customer Reviews:
Consequenes.......2007-06-08
13:55 Eastern Standard Time, is quite different from Nick Alexander's previous series of novels centred on the loveable character Mark. 13:33 EST could be read as a collection of shorts, but in fact it is much more than that. It all starts with OK Sticker, when a disgruntled factory worker in China, more concerned about her private life, knowingly passes a batch of defective iPods as OK. In the second story of the title, 13:55 EST, we move to the USA and meet some new characters as we follow the course of the defective iPods, and begin to pick up on the consequences of the young Chinese worker's actions. And so the subsequent stories follow in similar vein, as we see how seemingly simple, sometimes deliberate, often innocent actions have far reaching consequences, at times good, but at others bad or even tragic, and how individuals can affect the lives of others who may or may not be in any way connected, often continents apart.
As geographically the successive stories take us around the world, the range of characters is wide, from poorly paid and struggling workers in China to successful and wealthy near celebrities in the West, and an array of individuals and families or couples in between, and unsurprisingly with Nick Alexander, straight and gay characters. Some are likeable, even endearing, others we quite happily observe as they receive their comeuppance. Some characters we encounter just the once, others we return to again and again.
The book does repay careful reading in order not to miss the connections between (and so the consequences of) the different events and actions; and perhaps to detect the parts that maybe unrelated the rest. A most enjoyable and tantalising read; a worthy successor to God Thing, Bad Thing, and something to keep us happy until Nick Alexander gets around to giving us further adventures of our old hero Mark.
Book Description
This report was created for global strategic planners who cannot be content with traditional methods of segmenting world markets. With the advent of a “borderless world”, cities become a more important criteria in prioritizing markets, as opposed to regions, continents, or countries. This report covers the top 2000 cities in over 200 countries. It does so by reporting the estimated market size (in terms of latent demand) for each major city of the world. It then ranks these cities and reports them in terms of their size as a percent of the country where they are located, their geographic region (e.g. Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Latin America), and the total world market. In performing various economic analyses for its clients, I have been occasionally asked to investigate the market potential for various products and services across cities. The purpose of the studies is to understand the density of demand within a country and the extent to which a city might be used as a point of distribution within its region. From an economic perspective, however, a city does not represent a population within rigid geographical boundaries. To an economist or strategic planner, a city represents an area of dominant influence over markets in adjacent areas. This influence varies from one industry to another, but also from one period of time to another. In what follows, I summarize the economic potential for the world\'s major cities for "16 megawatt off-grid industrial and commercial solar photovoltaic systems" for the year 2007. The goal of this report is to report my findings on the real economic potential, or what an economist calls the latent demand, represented by a city when defined as an area of dominant influence. The reader needs to realize that latent demand may or may not represent real sales. For many items, latent demand is clearly observable in sales, as in the case for food or housing items. Consider, however, the category "satellite launch vehicles". Clearly, there are no launch pads in most cities of the world. However, the core benefit of the vehicles (e.g. telecommunications, etc.) is "consumed" by residents or industries within the world\'s cities. Without certain cities, in other words, the market for satellite launch vehicles would be lower for the world in general. One needs to allocate, therefore, a portion of the worldwide economic demand for launch vehicles to both regions and cities. This report takes the broader definition and considers, therefore, a city as a part of the global market.
Book Description
This report was created for global strategic planners who cannot be content with traditional methods of segmenting world markets. With the advent of a “borderless world”, cities become a more important criteria in prioritizing markets, as opposed to regions, continents, or countries. This report covers the top 2000 cities in over 200 countries. It does so by reporting the estimated market size (in terms of latent demand) for each major city of the world. It then ranks these cities and reports them in terms of their size as a percent of the country where they are located, their geographic region (e.g. Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Latin America), and the total world market. In performing various economic analyses for its clients, I have been occasionally asked to investigate the market potential for various products and services across cities. The purpose of the studies is to understand the density of demand within a country and the extent to which a city might be used as a point of distribution within its region. From an economic perspective, however, a city does not represent a population within rigid geographical boundaries. To an economist or strategic planner, a city represents an area of dominant influence over markets in adjacent areas. This influence varies from one industry to another, but also from one period of time to another. In what follows, I summarize the economic potential for the world\'s major cities for "9 MW off-grid solar photovoltaic consumer products" for the year 2007. The goal of this report is to report my findings on the real economic potential, or what an economist calls the latent demand, represented by a city when defined as an area of dominant influence. The reader needs to realize that latent demand may or may not represent real sales. For many items, latent demand is clearly observable in sales, as in the case for food or housing items. Consider, however, the category "satellite launch vehicles". Clearly, there are no launch pads in most cities of the world. However, the core benefit of the vehicles (e.g. telecommunications, etc.) is "consumed" by residents or industries within the world\'s cities. Without certain cities, in other words, the market for satellite launch vehicles would be lower for the world in general. One needs to allocate, therefore, a portion of the worldwide economic demand for launch vehicles to both regions and cities. This report takes the broader definition and considers, therefore, a city as a part of the global market.
Book Description
This study covers the latent demand outlook for 9 MW off-grid solar photovoltaic consumer products across the regions of Greater China, including provinces, autonomous regions (Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Xizang - Tibet), municipalities (Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin), special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau), and Taiwan (all hereafter referred to as “regions”). Latent demand (in millions of U.S. dollars), or potential industry earnings (P.I.E.) estimates are given across some 1,100 cities in Greater China. For each major city in question, the percent share the city is of the region and of Greater China is reported. Each major city is defined as an area of “economic population”, as opposed to the demographic population within a legal geographic boundary. For many cities, the economic population is much larger that the population within the city limits; this is especially true for the cities of the Western regions. For the coastal regions, cities which are close to other major cities or which represent, by themselves, a high percent of the regional population, actual city-level population is closer to the economic population (e.g. in Beijing). Based on this “economic” definition of population, comparative benchmarks allow the reader to quickly gauge a city’s marketing and distribution value vis-à-vis others. This exercise is quite useful for persons setting up distribution centers or sales force strategies. Using econometric models which project fundamental economic dynamics within each region and city of influence, latent demand estimates are created for 9 MW off-grid solar photovoltaic consumer products. This report does not discuss the specific players in the market serving the latent demand, nor specific details at the product level. The study also does not consider short-term cyclicalities that might affect realized sales. The study, therefore, is strategic in nature, taking an aggregate and long-run view, irrespective of the players or products involved.
Book Description
This study covers the latent demand outlook for 9 MW off-grid solar photovoltaic consumer products across the states, union territories and cities of India. Latent demand (in millions of U.S. dollars), or potential industry earnings (P.I.E.) estimates are given across over 4,000 cities in India. For each city in question, the percent share the city is of it’s state or union territory and of India as a whole is reported. These comparative benchmarks allow the reader to quickly gauge a city vis-à-vis others. This statistical approach can prove very useful to distribution and/or sales force strategies. Using econometric models which project fundamental economic dynamics within each state or union territory and city, latent demand estimates are created for 9 MW off-grid solar photovoltaic consumer products. This report does not discuss the specific players in the market serving the latent demand, nor specific details at the product level. The study also does not consider short-term cyclicalities that might affect realized sales. The study, therefore, is strategic in nature, taking an aggregate and long-run view, irrespective of the players or products involved.
Books:
- The Standard & Poor's Guide to Measuring and Managing Credit Risk
- Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students (Design Briefs)
- Tiffany's Palm Beach
- Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, Fourth Edition
- Value-at-Risk: Theory and Practice
- Warehouse Distribution and Operations Handbook (McGraw-Hill Handbooks)
- Warehouse Distribution and Operations Handbook (McGraw-Hill Handbooks)
- Warehouse Distribution and Operations Handbook (McGraw-Hill Handbooks)
- Water, Development and the Environment
- Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Island of the Blue Dolphins
- History: Fiction or Science
- European Isolation and Confinement Study
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- Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach
- In the Moon of Red Ponies: A Billy Bob Holland Novel
- The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry
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Energy Efficiency
| Remodeling & Renovation
| Home Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy: Achieving Energy Independence Through Solar, Wind, Biomass And Hydropower (Mother Earth News Wiser Living)
Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook: Your Complete Guide To Renewable Energy Technologies And Sustainable Living (Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook)
Wind Power, Revised Edition: Renewable Energy for Home, Farm, and Business
Got Sun? Go Solar: Get Free Renewable Energy to Power Your Grid-Tied Home
Wind Energy Basics: A Guide to Small and Micro Wind Systems
