Category Archives: solar power

Going Off-grid: Wind or Solar?

Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 by
wind-solar

The two most common options for off-grid electrical power are wind and solar. This post discusses the pros and cons of each option. First off, I’d like to point out that the amount of power you get from either wind … Continue reading →

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Solar Water Distillation: several designs compared

Posted on Wednesday, July 3, 2013 by
solar_still

As I discussed in a previous post, water is one of the more difficult prepping issues. Suppose that one disaster or another knocks out the power. You won’t have town/city water on which to rely. There are many different water … Continue reading →

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Wind Turbines versus Solar Panels

Posted on Monday, May 27, 2013 by
wind-solar

This prepping and survival blog post compares wind turbines to solar panels — the two most common off-grid power sources. A 100-watt solar panel sells (as of this writing) for around $200 to $250, making the price about $2 to … Continue reading →

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Reflecting on 2012, Preparing for 2013

Posted on Sunday, December 30, 2012 by
2013-electricity

Every New Years I like to take some time to reflect on what has happened over the past 12 months and evaluate my Preps for the year ahead. As this year comes to a close I consider myself very lucky … Continue reading →

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Low Temperature Cooking in a Solar Oven

Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2012 by
solar-oven-chicken

I’ve completed the first build of my solar oven design. I’ll go over the specs quickly, before we discuss cooking with the oven. First Build The oven is made from cardboard boxes, aluminized mylar (emergency ‘space’ blankets), cotton for insulation … Continue reading →

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Solar Oven Design: insulation

Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 by
sun-sunglasses

A solar oven needs a clear window on top, reflectors to increase the sunlight and therefore the energy going into the oven, a black surface to turn that light into heat, and insulation, so that the heat is retained, rather … Continue reading →

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Solar Oven Design: size and shape

Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2012 by
Pizza-Box

To build a useful solar oven, we must pay attention to certain design features. The most important features are size, shape, insulation, interior color, reflectors, and heat retention. For this article, let’s consider the size and shape of the oven. … Continue reading →

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Solar Oven Design — part 1

Posted on Tuesday, May 1, 2012 by
sun-clipart2

My goal for this project is to design an inexpensive easy-to-build low temperature solar oven that can be used for a few different purposes: 1. to pasteurize water by heat 2. to produce distilled water 3. to cook food at … Continue reading →

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Going Solar - The Deep Freeze

Posted on Sunday, April 15, 2012 by
solar-panels-11

As some of you may have read in my previous posts, I’m interested in putting together a Prudent and Reasonable solar power system that would be useful in situations where the electric grid may be either unreliable or completely down … Continue reading →

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Going Solar; First Steps; Baby Steps…

Posted on Sunday, April 8, 2012 by
solar-idea-01

I put up a post a few days ago about my desire to have at least some ability to power my house through solar energy. My initial discussion with a vendor in my area was somewhat frustrating as they are … Continue reading →

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Going Solar?

Posted on Thursday, April 5, 2012 by
solar-panels-03

For a time I was thinking that I’d like to have my primary residence outfitted with enough solar panels so I could run the place completely “off grid”. Lately I’ve been having second thoughts. I’m not so sure that’s the … Continue reading →

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The Usefulness of Solar Ovens

Posted on Wednesday, March 7, 2012 by
solar-oven-1

There are two types of supplies that one might store in preparation for short- or long-term disasters: consumables and non-consumables. The problem with storing food and water, is that you will probably use up your stored supplies within a relatively … Continue reading →

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