Those of us homesteaders who have been hoping the cost of solar panels would continue to fall until we can finally afford them on our houses and outbuildings have been watching with some trepidation the news that solar start-up Solyndra has filed for bankruptcy. What does it mean in terms of the push to secure truly ‘green’ jobs here in the U.S., as well as our struggle to get our nation off filthy fossil fuels like coal and gas, and to phase out ill-conceived nuclear power generation before Megalopolis ends up a ‘dead zone’ for 300+ years.

The New York Times reports that Solyndra’s bankruptcy bodes ill for the entire solar industry. But does it really? While we can be sure King Coal and Big Nukes would dearly love that to be true, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is true.

Solyndra’s collapse marked the third time in as many weeks that a solar company declared bankruptcy. Evergreen Solar Inc. of Massachusetts and SpectraWatt of New York also filed for protection.

Three investment-heavy solar companies in three weeks? What’s going on? Some analysts loudly tout the idea that the solar industry itself is in trouble – and there obviously is some trouble – but how bad is it? According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, part of the problem is that the cost of materials to make solar panels has been falling drastically as more and more investment in the technology has materialized, and more companies jump into the fray. In such a situation some of the most heavily leveraged companies who got in when material costs were high are going to fail simply due to their debt load. Solyndra also produced commercial rooftop systems with a unique cylindrical collection system, and that system proved to be entirely impractical in residential applications. This, analysts say, indicates that the company badly misunderstood the marketplace they’d entered.

Solyndra also produced the thin film solar panels I was hoping to use on my metal roof, so maybe their leftover stock of that will go at super-discount price now that the company is defaulting on its more than half a billion dollars in federal loans. Worst part, of course, are than 1,100 ‘green’ energy workers are now unemployed. Hopefully they’ll be able to find new work in the field soon. German energy giant just announced that it is getting out of the nuclear business altogether, and will refocus on its alternative and renewable divisions. ABC News reports that the Solyndra bankruptcy is unlikely to hamper government investment in green jobs or renewable energy sources, so that’s some good news.

Besides, despite the loss of those 1,100 jobs at Solyndra, the solar energy sector is still employing more than 100,000 people and has added more than 6,700 jobs just in the past year. Green job growth appears to be healthy despite some start-up upheavals in non-competitive sectors. These are good jobs, we need more of them.

The bottom line is that Chinese governmental investment in solar production is the biggest factor effecting cost of solar panels, as U.S. companies just don’t have access to the kind of sweatshop, prison and slave labor that the Chinese government can deploy. Much as American corporations would love to pay workers $2 a day for 16 hours of daily work, that’s simply not going to happen no matter how long they drag out this 2nd Great Depression.

The government’s exposure on these bankruptcies should definitely not prevent the necessary investment in alternatives, especially given the recent dramatic breakdown of half a century’s empty promises that nuclear energy would be “clean, safe, too cheap to meter.” The price of those is going nowhere but up, and they already cost more in initial investment than any other energy source. I figure the solar market will balance itself out over time, and those companies that install and maintain solar panels on your roof that turns THEM into your utility company (at a guaranteed rate, something you’ll never get from a public utility) seem to be doing great.

At any rate, I’m still hoping that by the time we’ve got the money to invest in full energy production for this homestead there will be available technologies made right here in the U.S. of A. that are both affordable and will do the job with enough extra to sell back to Duke. Why, maybe Duke will get enough from that distributed generation to cancel any and all plans for new nukes nobody needs or can afford. You never know…

Links:

U.S. Solar Industry Job Growth
Solyndra Bankruptcy Unlikely to Hamper Green Jobs
House Judiciary chair: Solyndra bankruptcy
Solyndra Bankruptcy Reveals Dark Clouds

One of the biggest long-range planning issues involved in making a successful transition from a seriously inefficient and wasteful fossil fuels economy toward a more healthy renewables-based way of life is the problem of our petro-based system of agriculture. Those huge tractors and combines that dominate the endless landscapes of Big Agri-biz operations can translate into an entirely unsustainable 10:1 ratio of fossil fuel use to food on the table. Obviously as the cost of petroleum fuels keeps on rising, our society at large must come up with more efficient alternatives. Fortunately, there are a couple of alternatives that bode well for the future.

Huge swaths of the American breadbasket where staple monocrops are produced by the square mile would probably be better off going with Rudolph Diesel’s engine which he invented in 1893 to run on peanut oil. The Big machines could be run on SVO biodiesel that could be produced in a centrally located co-op type operation from oil crops cooperatively grown just for the purpose. These could then power the growing of those massive amounts of staple crops like oilseed, sugar beets, corn and other grains needed for both humans and livestock that are most efficiently produced by agribusiness concerns. Less petroleum consumption for this purpose, combined with programs aimed at lessening big ag’s dependence on petro-based chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides would help a lot.

But is biodiesel the best alternative to the small producer? Smaller, more diverse farms, organic operations and homesteads that participate in Community Supported Agriculture programs and/or agritourism offerings don’t need those huge multi-purpose machines to grow just a few acres’ worth of truck crops, culinary herbs, grains, etc. Luckily for us small-timers, there’s electric tractors.

Electric tractors come in a variety of sizes and conversions from standard small farm size tractors produced by the usual manufacturers to your basic lawn-tractor sized unit that is mostly a glorified riding mower or 4-wheeler/golf cart. Such small units can easily handle the standard machine jobs involved in 1-5 acre fields, often able to plow, till or seed those 5 acres on a single charge. These machines can generally accept any of the standard tractor attachments that any similar sized gasoline or diesel tractor can accept, and while not exactly cheap, are generally not much more expensive than standard models.

Electric tractors actually get more oomph for the buck than traditional tractors or regular transportation EVs that need to be lightweight and go fast. This is because tractors are more efficient at their jobs when they are heavy and going slow. The trick for homesteaders is the power supply for charging the batteries, and of course that must factor into whatever power sources – solar, wind, micro-hydro, etc. – you are using to lessen your dependence on the grid. There are even conversions out there for your basic Small farm size Allis or Deere or Ford tractor that sport nifty overhead canopies (shade!) of solar panels that charge on-the-fly.

On more graded land such as we have here in the Appalachians, any kind of riding tractor or mower type machine is more dangerous than a walk-behind with low profile. And while power for that could be provided by a mule, it’s kind of exciting to find that someone on the electric implement front has already thought of that. Even better, these electrical implements make no noise in operation beyond the noise of the tines working the earth.

Below are listed some great links with lots of good information about electric tractors, tillers, mowers, cart-pullers and such that interested homesteaders will find useful. Several homesteaders I know who have livestock are already using rechargeable battery powered electric 4-wheelers to pull trailers loaded with hay and feed and such to their stock, haul logs cut at distance to where they are split for firewood, and to get that firewood to the furnace/wood stove. More useful actual farm implements attachable to riding mower type vehicles, or conversions of that old Ford might be a great project a homesteader who is already involved in CSA and/or agritourism projects could even find grant money to support.

Useful Links:

EEEVEE: Electric Tractors
The Natural Farmer: Electric Tractors
Permaculture: Electric Tractors
Modern Electric Tractors Incorporated
GE Elec-Trak E15
FreePower: Solar Gardening & Lawn Equipment
SunPony Charging Tiller

A friend left a little 16-foot travel trailer in our back yard a couple of years ago when he had to sell his land and move east to tend his aging parents. The plumbing got wrecked because he forgot to unhook it before pulling it out, but the electricity’s still fine, and I’m presuming the stove, fridge and heat would work if we cared to replace the propane bottles. We’ve been using it as a combination storage shed and guest bedroom, but had to drape a tarp over the roof to stop leaks in the corners that led to a nasty accumulation of mildew.

What I’d most like to do is convert it into an actual camp-cabin style “Tiny House” that would blend in with the forest scenery better than white with turquoise trim on your basic aluminum trailer siding. Maybe build a Tiny House shed while we’re at it as well. Tiny houses are often built on wheels to get around local building codes, and of course this trailer is already on wheels. But that’s not really necessary here because there are no building codes out in the wilderness – unless you wish to obtain insurance, that is.

Of course, we could probably do better by selling it cheap just to get it hauled out of here, and then building a little camp cabin instead. By building from scratch we could get more width and height out of the space, which goes a long way in the ‘tiny house’ realm toward making the space usable and comfortable at the same time. Wish some help from our grandsons we could probably supply all the logs necessary from right here on the land, though I’d still need that mule I’ve been meaning to get in order to get them transported from where we cut to where we want to build.

Our primary problem is the fact that we don’t have much accessible flat land. What is accessible is already in use for our 28 x 28 cabin (with half basement and loft) built into the side of the mountain a hundred years ago, and about an eighth of an acre of back yard. Where that ugly travel trailer is parked using up way too much of it. There is flat land down at the creeks on both sides of the ridge, but it’s not accessible by road, only by trail. And the climb uphill to the driveway and house cabin is darned rugged no matter which creek you start from. But what we do have is what’s left of an old logging road that goes to the top of the ridge, which we could grade a little less steep and gravel to a parking area that would provide good access to that ridgetop.

And while we could build up foundations on that ridgetop for camp-sized cabins (about 14 x 16 plus porch), I’d rather leave that land as is because it’s part of our trailway from the top of the knob to the access route for the old Mount Mitchell trail. Over which one of these days I’d really like to take guests on two-day nature hikes during the spring, summer and fall. They could rent the cabins for a week at a time, we’d make a little money, and a good time could be had by all.

So what I’m thinking about are bridge timber decks going off the far end of the ridge, onto which we could build the camp cabins. We camped at a state park on a lake in Tennessee once where all the campsights were on this sort of extended deck, with hookups and big enough to host several tents or a big Winnebego and still leave room for the truck-wheel campfire and a nice built-in charcoal grill on a pole. Sort of a do-it-yourself flatland. Our decks need be only 14 x 20 feet or so in order to comfortably host the cabins, which would then sit perched up amongst the trees and with lovely picturesque views of the highest Black Mountains peaks beyond.

We could supply water by tapping a spring on the other side’s creek and doing another ram jet to a raised cistern farther up the ridge (again for gravity feed), but we can’t provide flush toilets with septic tank and drain field. Way too expensive. I have, however, been doing a bit of research into your basic waterless composting toilet systems. Which should work fine for short-termers, and if we get long-termers they can do the emptying maintenance themselves. Thus there could be showers – grey water can be piped back down the mountain with no environmental damage so long as the soaps are degradable – and toilet facilities as well as water for drinking and cooking in the kitchenettes.

Or, I suppose, if we wanted to have several camp cabins up there, we could just build another one as a shower and toilet station for all to use – using your basic composting outhouse technology. This arrangement would have the added advantage of being useful to players on the top 10 holes of the disc golf course, thus keep them out of the main house.

My goal is of course to have a way to make some extra money off the place, tap a few of those 10 million tourists that pass through this region annually in search of mountain air, grand scenery and wilderness adventures. And also to have available space not in my own very small house for friends and family who love to visit but can crowd me out quickly when the weather’s less than fine. Besides, there’s nothing I hate more than having to wait in line for our sole bathroom every time I need to use it.

But on an encouraging note, now that land prices have fallen so significantly that nobody’s making any real money off that “real estate boom” that busted a few years ago, people in the city who have been harboring dreams of the homestead life could get started by going small. An acre of unimproved, forested land in my county is going for just a couple of thousand dollars these days if you’re willing to buy 5 or 10 acres at a time. An off-grid (solar, wind and/or hydro) site-built Tiny House or camp cabin can be a good investment on top of that while the work on clearing and planting a garden, learning and managing wilding crops, sheltering and fencing some livestock, etc. is being done. Better amenities and a larger home cabin can thus be not something needed immediately. Then the self-sufficient starter cabin is just a lovely added feature of your homestead – a private studio or workspace, a guest quarters, a rental cabin, a children’s play house, whatever.

It’s a thought. So think about it!

Useful Links:

Tiny House Blog
Tiny House Design
This Tiny House
Tiny Pallet House
Vermont Tiny Houses
Envirolet Composting Toilets
Sum-Mar Composting Toilets
Biolet Composting Toilets

Over the past two weeks a rather spectacular one-two punch of severe weather wreaked havoc across the eastern half of the nation from Texas to Virginia. Many of us were stunned by the huge, mile-wide F4 tornado that plowed a deadly path through Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama. That monster and as many as a hundred other tornados killed more than 300 people in 5 states and injured thousands who literally had no place to hide as the winds flattened homes, apartment buildings and businesses completely, even to blasting out the concrete slabs and tearing up streets and sidewalks. It is the deadliest tornado outbreak since the Great Depression.

A friend who lives on a well-planned homestead in southern Tennessee posted on FaceBook about the damage from a tornado in his neck of the woods that downed trees and power lines wholesale, but spared him and his family and even his goats. He was feeling darned lucky even though the devastation across TVA’s service area – and the station blackout that shut down the three reactors at Browns Ferry – made it likely that his ‘stead would be without electricity for days, maybe a week or more. We who live on the land know from experience that we aren’t the first people in line to have our services restored after a nasty storm. First in line are the people in urban areas where shelters and hospitals and emergency services must be restored as quickly as possible to minimize the human cost of nature’s wrath.

I am now quite jealous of the amount of serious planning my friend put into his move from the city to the land a few years ago. In response to a question about how his family was set for food storage in the time it would take to get the electricity back on, he said that’s the least of his worries. Seems he has a well-stocked solar powered freezer that doesn’t need TVA at all. Heck, as long as a homestead is capable of operating despite the ravages of storms and downed power lines, the need to use oil lamps at night can be considered romantic! I’ve gotta get me some solar powered refrigeration for sure, though this item on the wish list may have to wait (along with others) for the day when I finally win the lottery I never play…

At any rate, I went surfing the web on my computer – which fortunately didn’t have to go without electricity because the tornados jumped the mountains and didn’t come down again until they were between Charlotte and Raleigh. I found that there are several companies out there specializing in solar powered refrigeration. Backwoods Solar Electric Systems offers units from several manufacturers along with the peripherals you’ll need to get them up and operating.

If you’ve priced new, efficient standard electrical refrigerators lately, you know the nice ones are approaching the $2,000 range. A solar powered, direct current system for a refrigerator or freezer unit can cost twice that much when all the costs are added up – the solar panels, the converters, the batteries, etc. The appliances themselves are well insulated and energy efficient, but still suck up a lot of ‘trons during the course of a day – averaging between 200 and 800 watt hours per day. Size matters, of course, and an 800-watt solar collector takes up some serious room. Some come with an AC/DC switch so that you could use regular electricity and save the draw on your household solar for when the electricity’s out. That would separate the costs on the system so that household solar generation isn’t solely dedicated to the refrigeration in normal times, as refrigerators and freezers are big users.

The SunDanzer company offers some battery-free, direct solar units that are somewhat compact but surprisingly efficient and not more expensive than a regular new appliance without the solar panels added in. Solartron Technologies offers a modest size, ultra high efficiency battery refrigeration/freezer unit that can be operated with just an 85 watt solar panel that costs less than $500. The batteries and peripherals will hike the initial price considerably, and I know many homesteaders who would dearly love to be able to operate off-grid if they have to, but are reluctant to invest in those expensive batteries that need semi-regular replacement. It’s far easier to simply go with the backwards meter. For them, the AC/DC switchable for straight running off the panels in times when the grid is down will probably serve as well and involve less investment cost over the long run.

When you sit down to figure out what your homestead actually needs in the way of reliable electric power, the water pump from well or spring looms large (at least, at my place) along with food storage – refrigeration. I don’t know many homesteads that heat the house or greenhouse with electricity, as there are much better ways to get heat that are not so wasteful. Lights aren’t that big an issue either, as oil lamps are quite nice and most people I know don’t do their hard homestead work in the dark anyway. Who needs lights when you’re sleeping? If the family is unable to entertain themselves without television or desktop computers, you’ll have to add in that much generation capacity as well. Though I am dreaming of a stationary bicycle or the treadle and wheel unit from an old sewing machine as a way to generate computer ‘trons when the regular power goes out. That ram jet I forever plan to build and install down at the creek to pump water from the spring cistern to the top of the ridge so we can then get gravity feed to the house would save us a lot on the 220 pump that’s now in the cistern. We heat with wood and don’t need air conditioning, so refrigeration would definitely be our biggest user of generated power once we get the ram jet, solar panels and wind turbine installed.

So I’ve added solar powered refrigeration to my wish list for when I win the lottery and have the money to invest. Until then, if the electricity goes out for several days at a time from anything that’s not a blizzard or ice storm in the middle of winter (when keeping food cold isn’t difficult at all), I’ll have to stick with transferring cold items to plastic milk crates in the creek. Not very convenient, but workable because being spring fed, the water stays right at 40-45 degrees all year long.

And yes, I’m still darned jealous of my friend’s impressive foresight to have planned for this contingency when he built his place, as well as his ability to thumb his nose at TVA when the lights go out. A new modern malady for us back to the landers – Homestead Envy. I’ve got it…

Links:

Backwoods Solar Electric Systems
SunDanzer
Solartron Technologies

At right is the first rush of the bunching onion harvest, prepped for drying in my wonderful (but quite ugly) solar food dryer! These are just the whites – grown from seed – that have been seriously overrun by volunteer grape tomatoes. I decided to let the volunteers grow because the celeriac I’d put where they are all got washed away by torrential rains all spring. Unlike my Abe Lincolns up top, these actually are turning red about a month late. Rain and cool weather all the way through July has kept the Lincolns green-green for way too long, don’t know if they’ll ever ripen.

Seems that’s the story up and down the Eastern Seaboard this year. Cooler than normal, and wet enough to make swamps. I hear New Jersey and other states are having tomato issues, as are all my neighbors, so I’m not alone. Potatoes are taking a big hit as well, rotting in the wet ground or turning black with blight. Both crops may be total commercial losses this year, which means it’s even MORE important that mine come in and get preserved. That’s where my food dryer comes in!

I have so looked forward to not having to buy lids, boil jars, hard-prep and then water-bath this year. We don’t have AC in the cabin, since there’s no point for the perhaps 3 whole weeks of summer when it’s so hot we have to go sit under a tree instead of stay in the house, but it does get sticky and uncomfortable in the extreme when canning, even though I’ve learned to do the water-bath out on the gas grill.

The not pretty but quite serviceable dryer is something I’m more proud of due to NOT having cut off any digits or limbs with power tools than the fact that it works. So far I’ve been drying apples as they fall (Granny Smith and Macintosh) from what were supposed to be 10-foot tall single-limb “columnars” that got planted too deep and are now 20 feet tall and multi-limbed. Can’t get at the fruit with the ladder because most is too high, so must wait until they fall. They’re right outside the front porch, so I check a couple of times a day. Promptly cut off the bruised part from falling, core, peel and slice, dip in lemon juice (helps preserve color) and dry. Takes a day of full sun, or two of intermittent. Which is the story of the summer, and just my luck since I made a solar dryer. It just HAD to be a cool, wet, cloudy year. So far I’ve three quarts of dried apples and one of peels, which I’m going to powder and make applesauce, then dry into leathers strips.

So between apple batches (still waiting for ‘maters and pears, eggplant, leeks, peppers and pumpkins), I can dry the onions. The colander you see in the pic is full of cut greens. The very best thing about drying instead of canning is that nothing much goes to waste. I’ll cut and dry all the good onion greens crisp, jar them for now, then when I’m putting together powder mixtures for, say, veggie bullion or instant V-8 or potato soup or making salts and/or salt-free mixtures, I’ll blender-ize them into powder. Rather than just tossing them into the compost as usual, where they either rot or get eaten by da bear.

Greens shouldn’t take more than a day to dry, I’ll know by this evening because this is one of our rare full-sun days. If they aren’t quite dry by sundown, I’ll retrieve them and finish in the oven at 150º, which I’ve found works quite well. Dried food needs to be fully dried hard to store, as moisture will cause mold and rot. Half-dry stuff needs to go into freezer bags and frozen. The dry-dry will keep for years!

Figure I’ll half the grape tomatoes and dry those too, sort of tomato-raisins that can be added to all sorts of stuff, including a sourdough veggie-loaf I’m planning. The herbs (basil, rosemary, sage, oregano, tarragon, parsley, etc.) are doing great this year, so I’ll have plenty to add. Will let you know how that turns out! Harvested the bulb onions a couple of weeks ago, put some into storage and will slice the rest to dry and crumble into “instant onions” to add to soups and stews during the winter.

Figure after tomatoes (or during) I’ll dry sliced ‘taters too. Make scallop mixture and bottle that all up too. Have taken to saving coffee tins as well as miscellaneous jars and lids, since dry food only needs an airtight container stored in a dark cabinet, so those will hold a lot.

The very best thing about my summer project – the solar dryer – is that I’ll be able to put up most of the food grown, use almost all of it, and have a lot of good organic food on hand all winter. So much usually goes to waste! Now I’m planning a drying rack to be suspended above the wood stove, since judging by weather so far this year it’ll be getting cold enough for a fire by late September, the solar dryer’s not that big, and I’ve fall crops that should also be dried.

Stay tuned for developments on that end, and Happy Harvest!

Acknowledging that we homesteaders have been ahead of the curve for quite awhile on how to become ever more self-sufficient, the current worldwide economic crisis – which threatens to last for years – no doubt has us expanding our means of producing and preserving food crops this year. On my homestead a good deal of work is going into expanding the amount of acreage we’ve planted in truck crops, begun experimenting with staples like hard red winter wheat and grain amaranth, and doubling the actual plantings of favorites like potatoes and corn that have traditionally been so cheap to buy that we didn’t depend upon our own.

On the preservation front, I’ve embraced a project for this season that should pay for itself many times over during the years it will be in use. It’s a solar food dryer, with which I’m hoping to cut seriously into the energy usage (and expense) of regular canning and freezing as the crops come in. This will not only help keep our not air conditioned cabin cooler during the hot August tomato harvest/canning frenzy, it should also cut way down on waste of perfectly good food from the land that comes in piecemeal, is less-than-perfect, and cannot be immediately consumed. This means I can preserve much more of the apple and pear crops, can preserve the persimmon crop that just started producing last fall, can dry sweet corn, squash and even dark green leafies for long-term storage while preserving much more of their nutritional goodness as well as flavor.

We’re still collecting the materials for this project, and I’ll be taking pictures of every step of building and operation for updates through the season. The basic design of the dryer can be found at GeoPathfinder. Though I’ll be using polypropylene screen instead of stainless steel, which is very expensive and difficult to find in small lots. I also like the idea of making several box-screens that can be loaded in stages, because then I can build a rack above the wood stove to continue drying activities into late September and October with fruit leathers from the apples, pears and grapes. Or in the early spring to dry cherries, which always ripen weeks before we’re done heating the cabin.

Another design issue for this NC mountain climate will have to be an even lifting of the glass and shield assembly, as opposed to simply hinging it and propping it open. That’s going to cause seriously uneven heating in our strong summer sun, which is too strong to keep from baking the food with the top closed. That also means I’ll need another screen to go over the food trays to keep insects off. I figure a scissor-riser type device at all four corners to lift the glass/shield assembly straight up. For the extra bug screen I’m figuring a standard retracting window shade device that I can pull across and secure.

I’ve also ordered Mary Bell’s book Food Drying with an Attitude, which should be here before the end of the week. We don’t do jerky (vegetarians), but I’m quite curious about drying dark green leafies which usually end up in the compost pile because we can’t eat them fast enough and I hate canned greens. I figure if they crumble badly I can save the powder to add to soups and stews all winter, maybe mix with other broken/crumbled dried produce to make a jar of veggie bullion. Am growing sweet yellow, storage white and big red onions this season, hope they do better than usual. Celeriac is also something I want to grow a lot of, and now I’ll be able to dry the stalks and leaves to add to the bullion jar. The roots don’t need preserving, they’ll keep just fine in the root cellar all winter.

Stay tuned for construction updates and the results of my experiments in food drying! More to come soon…

We’ve looked a bit at on-site electrical generation, transportation fuels and building technologies. In this installment we’ll look at some ways of putting things together into overall strategies for homestead independence.


Part 4: Hybrid Energy Systems

In a previous post a short video was offered about as small, 1Kw hybrid energy system using solar and wind offered by a company in Canada. Whether you’re planning to go off-grid with storage batteries or negotiate a price for your excess production with the local utility (and get a “backwards meter”), the same thing is true of energy supplies as is true of general homestead success – diversify. So Here are five hybrid systems, some good links and some cool ideas for planning your alternatives…

16. Solar-Wind

In addition to the previously linked hybrid system from Canada’s SEMA Technology, there are many other solar-wind hybrid systems out there at varying power ratings and costs. Best place to get an overview is from DOE’s Consumer’s Guide to small hybrids. Most homesteaders in areas where the wind isn’t a constant gale will find smaller, steadier units that work well in low wind situations best for their use, while avoiding the bird kill problems of the big 2 and 3-bladed powerhouses.

Some of these (and other hybrid systems) can also be supplemented with generators that operate on biomass, waste cooking oil or methane. The handy homesteader can also make their own waste oil burners to supplement household heat, make an outdoor oven/stove, or even supply the heat for a homestead ethanol fuel still.


17. Hydro-Solar

A micro-hydro system powered either by diverted head flow or sited directly in a flowing creek can supply steady power 24 hours a day. When supplemented by solar during the day, all it takes is proper timing of your consumption habits to live on your home-generated energy budget.

Again, if the homesteader avoids using electricity for thermal energy – home/greenhouse heat, cooking, etc. – a steady power supply from micro-hydro supplemented with wind or solar (or both!) should supply enough electricity for normal homestead uses. An alternative fuel generator can supply occasional heavy loads.

18. Solar-Geoexchange

This is a hybrid “space conditioning” system that doesn’t generate electricity separately, but makes use of clever design engineering to diminish a home’s energy usage year round by using a double wall envelope and below-ground heat sink. This keeps the space at a temperature that doesn’t require air conditioning or much heat in the winter. Since these are among any home’s greatest energy uses, these ideas can be put to work in various ways by the handy homesteader. There are construction companies in many states who specialize in this system, so look around if you’re building! And for an overview, see SolarGeo.

Homesteaders lucky enough to have property over sizeable cave systems, or in geothermal hot spots, have options the rest of us don’t. But eventually thermal gradient technology such as that currently used in today’s heat pump units may be refined to work on very little electrical input, making them a good choice for homesteaders who generate their own juice.

19. Combined Heat and Power Systems

Solar Air Conditioning:

Abbreviated CHP (Combined Heat and Power), systems that make use of the waste heat generated by fuel-powered systems (boilers, furnaces, wood stoves, etc.) to increase efficiency. Depending on where you live and how you’d plan to put the heat to use, a CHP mini-system might be a worthy option. If you live north, the heat can warm your toes and cook your bread. If you live south, consider engineering a version of the thermal energy conversion technology in solar air conditioning to keep your home cool! Solar could help on hot, sunny days, but heat is heat – your CHP system can provide it.

There are CHP home systems available and in development, or again a handy homesteader could rig one up with either an internal combustion or a Stirling engine.

20. Multi-Tech Systems

Most clever homesteaders will have recognized already that diversification of energy sources provides all sorts of hybrids they could hook together to ensure an ample, steady supply of energy to their buildings and property. But for a good overview of what’s being done out there on this level, check out the Hybrid Micro Energy Project [HMEP] home energy multi-tech system.

Making use of integrated photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind and biomass, it’s easy enough to add hydro to the mix. The technology is out there to hook things together, charge batteries or go straight AC to the house or grid. It won’t totally solve America’s energy crisis, but it will solve our homestead energy needs. Big changes always start out with small steps. We can do this.

Posts to This Series:
Part 1: Electrical Generation
Part 2: Transportation and Motorized Equipment
Part 3: Building Technologies & Direct Alternatives
Part 4: Hybrid Energy Systems
Part 5: Collective Strategies for Communities

A Happy Solar Homestead

When we discuss alternative energy strategies, any able homesteader is going to be concerned with building and various secondary retrofits to homes, barns and outbuildings. The more energy the homestead can gain passively – or conserve passively – the less energy will be required to supplement.

In these strategies 11-15 of the series, we’ll look at some of the ways a homesteader can use smart, green building practices and technologies to lessen their dependence on supplied energy sources.

Part 3: Building Technologies & Alternatives

11. Passive Solar Siting and Construction

Whether you’re building a new house or barn, or simply retrofitting to what’s already there, strategies for making the most of nature where you live will help to save on energy inputs.

To make the most of passive solar, consider how much direct sunlight falls on your homesite throughout the year. If you get ample sun (have a site that has an ample southerly exposure), plan accordingly. Big windows (with no significant overhang) can provide direct solar heating in the winter. Dark stain or paint on the south wall will also absorb heat from the sun. Conversely, walls that are mostly or entirely shaded during the day, plus the north wall, should have as few windows as is reasonable.

Limit heat gain in summer by planting deciduous trees (apples are good) fairly close. Also bear in mind that any south-facing roof is a good place to put solar panels or solar collectors for hot water (or both). If you do install these, you’ll want retractible awnings for your south windows because you don’t want any summer shade trees interfering.

Green Building Basics

12. Earth-Sheltered Building

A home sheltered on 2 or 3 sides with the earth itself will maintain a much steadier temperature all year round. It will be warmer in winter (and hold heat better), cooler in summer than a fully above-ground dwelling. The same is true for barns if your homestead includes livestock, as well as for spring houses and/or root cellars.

There are now “sod roof” designs too, though these also require clever planning. Plus, if you’re growing grass or wildflowers on the roof, you won’t have it available for solar collectors. The plus again is insulation as well as heating/cooling supplied by the earth and plants themselves. Because our property slopes steeply to a side-ridge next to the cabin I’ve been considering a cute little Hobbit-House dug right into it – round door and all. If I ever get a backhoe, that’s just what I’ll do. Until then, I’ll be content that the first floor is earth sheltered on 3 sides. Works great.

Earth Sheltering

New Green Building Technology: Dirt Floors

13. Supplemental Heating and Cooling

Depending on where your homestead is located in this big country, your needs for heat and cooling will be tied directly to your microclimate. If you live in a climate that requires supplemental cooling in summer (and can’t earth-berm), a water cooling system is probably the most energy efficient bet. Moving air is always good, window and attic fans work well. You can always wet your tee-shirt and sit next to the fan, be cooled in no time! Or take some time off and go soak in the cold creek.

For supplemental heat a good size homestead should be able to use wood – a renewable resource. Simply maintaining a sizeable stand of forest can supply a lot of wood from thinned saplings, standing dead and windfall (you’ll want to keep your forested acreage well anyway to diminish chance of fire). If your woods are limited be sure to replant what you take, and choose fast growing hardwoods (like tulip poplar or locust) instead of evergreen conifers (soft woods like pine and fir).

Wood Heat Stoves & Solar

Central Boiler: Outdoor Furnace

14. Recycle All the Building Materials You Can

When building or adding on (or even doing some serious remodeling) always try to get recycled building materials if you can. There are businesses in almost every good-size town/city that specialize in recycled materials – used bricks and cinder blocks, poles and logs from old houses and barns, hardwood floors, windows, doors, ceramic tile, barn and house sidings, bathroom and kitchen fixtures and plumbing, even cool interior touches like railings and finials and moldings and such. Not only do these generally cost much less than new, sometimes an able homesteader can get great materials for free by offering to tear down an old barn or dwelling and salvage what he can.

Neighbors can often help supply materials as well, so get to know them. We’ve picked up many a brick, cinder block, window, door and other supplies from people who have been collecting for years, and are trying to make room for the new “free stuff” they’re collecting. Every recycled item you use to improve your homestead is energy NOT wasted by anybody else to produce new. It’s also money saved.

ReNew Building Materials & Salvage

15. Long Term Food Storage

While home food preservation (canning, drying, freezing) is its own separate series, the wise homesteader will want to make best use of strategies for long-term food storage that don’t require extra energy inputs. One of the best strategies for long-term food storage makes double use of a spring house/root cellar combination. Even if you have a well for house water, you can use this strategy at your creek or any natural springs on the property.

Flowing water – particularly spring-fed or ground water – tends to be cold and stay within a small temperature range year round. Our spring house (10×10 feet square) was dug into the mountainside at creek level many years before we moved here. There is a concrete plastered cinder block trough along the back wall, parallel to the hillside. A pipe coming through at one end brings spring water (~40º all the time) into the trough steadily. The trough has an overflow pipe on the other side that drains it back to the creek. This cold water also moderates the temperature in the space, and I’m fond of storing melons in the trough during the summer so they’re always cold but take up no room in the house fridge.

Any root vegetables (rutabega, beets, parsley root, celeriac, potatoes, turnips, onions, carrots), winter squash, pumpkins and fruit like apples and pears can be stored in this cellar in straw (so they don’t touch directly) for up to 9 months without significant spoilage and no freeze damage. I have seen in-ground root cellar/spring houses of this design in Oklahoma that work every bit as well as mine. Also have seen this design used in a house cellar food storage area in Pennsylvania, built before there was refrigeration and with a trough the entire width of the farmhouse that served refrigeration needs very well.

Peace and Carrots: Root Cellar

Walton: The Root Cellar Home Page

In part 4 of this series – items 16-20 – we’ll look again at energy systems for producing electricity or otherwise readily usable juice, this time at hybrid systems that combine several strategies at the same time to get the most usable power from the most readily available sources. Do stay tuned!

Posts to This Series:
Part 1: Electrical Generation
Part 2: Transportation and Motorized Equipment
Part 3: Building Technologies & Direct Alternatives
Part 4: Hybrid Energy Systems
Part 5: Collective Strategies for Communities

This series will provide an overview of the most promising energy systems and strategies for homestead or rural community independence. Most of these are available right now, some can be put together by the handy homeowner or community action group, and some will be available in the near future. Combined with common-sense conservation practices these can contribute a great deal to the independence of individual homesteads and rural communities willing to work together.

These technologies and ideas will be divided into particular technologies and presented together – 1. Electrical production; 2. Transportation alternatives – vehicles, fuels and power to operate the kind of equipment necessary to a rural lifestyle (trucks, farm and garden equipment, remote generators, etc.); 3. Building technologies and direct alternatives for heating/cooling and their applications; 4. Hybrid systems that can even out production and tie together for constancy of supply; 5. Collective strategies for small, cooperative communities striving for self-sufficiency and willing to invest together for alternatives that benefit all.

Part 1: Electrical Generation

We use electricity to light our homes and outbuildings, refrigerate our food, wash and dry our clothes, prepare our food, provide our in-home entertainment (music, television, computers), and sometimes to heat or supplement our heat during the winter. The “average” electricity use per home in the US (this is something we can personally adjust downward by conservation and appliance/heat alternatives) is ~900 Kilowatt hours per month. Get that down to ~700 for your home/homestead, and we’re talking less than 8,500 KwH per year.

What are the best alternative sources for that much on-site electrical generation?

1. Solar Panels

Quality solar panels and the accessories to properly install them, hook them together and get the energy available for use costs between $5 and $10 per watt with currently available technology. State and federal governments offer rebates on the systems (tax breaks), and some utilities will also rebate if you opt for the reverse grid tie-in that is in actuality a reasonable option for homesteaders and less expensive in initial outlay than storage batteries, converters, replacement costs, etc. to be completely off-grid. Here are some Fast Solar Energy Facts that may be helpful.

New solar panel technology from Colorado State University is expected to offer PV foil panels made of cadmium telluride rather than crystalline silicon, bringing the cost installed down to $2 per watt, in full production by the end of the year. Or, if you’re resourceful, you could Go Solar For Free.


2. & 3. Other Solar

(2) Making electricity (or power for other uses) using a Stirling Engine makes use of heat differentials… and guess what? The sun is hot! Check out this demonstration of a Stirling engine heated by sunlight through a Fresnel lens…

…just attach it to a generator and you’re in business! There are applications where geothermal heat could be used to power the engine, but most geothermal electrical generation will make direct use of the steam under pressure than simply the temperature gradient. This engine converts solar energy into mechanical energy, which in turn can generate electricity.

(3) The Fresnel lens can also concentrate solar energy in solar panel generation settings, or be used to generate steam for small steam generators using sunlight. Here is our friend at GreenPowerScience again with a solar steam engine…

4. Micro-Hydro Generation

Since water-power is a significant part of our overall national generation capacity, this source scaled down to generation of anything less than 100 Kw per hour is called “Micro-Hydro”. It’s really not that hard to find a water source with enough gradient drop to generate usable power for the homestead.

A micro-hydro generator system can be installed for as little as $10,000, and handy homesteaders can build many of the parts to save even more. The system can charge DC batteries or be wired straight into the home AC wiring. A 500 Watt AC system feeds a steady 500 Watts straight to the home/homestead’s wiring. 24 hours a day for 20 years or more. By choosing alternatives for heat gradient usage (home heating, clothes drying, water heating, electric ovens/ranges), using low-watt fluorescent light bulbs and getting low-watt appliances/gadgets, it’s possible to live all the way off-grid with a mini-hydro system.

5. Wind Generation

Wind generation isn’t practical for everybody, but if you live where the wind generally blows at a semi-steady 10 mph, it might just be the perfect answer. Like micro-hydro, electricity from the generator goes straight into the household wiring, while excess goes back to the grid. Wind turbines (and generators) can be purchased at about the same cost per KwH as micro-hydro, or again the handy homesteader can build their own.

When planning to generate electricity on-site for homestead or in dedicated systems for community use, it’s a good idea to negotiate with the local utility for the backwards meter set-up – the utility buys excess capacity so none of it’s wasted, the homestead or community purchases excess power during peak usage. This avoids the cost and fuss of battery storage (until something better comes along), and careful usage can even earn income for the producers! Buffer the interface and an outage won’t interrupt electricity, it’ll just limit available ‘trons.

Posts to This Series:
Part 1: Electrical Generation
Part 2: Transportation and Motorized Equipment
Part 3: Building Technologies & Direct Alternatives
Part 4: Hybrid Energy Systems
Part 5: Collective Strategies for Communities

Here’s a short video demonstration of a hybrid home electrical generation system developed by SEMA Technology that we’ll be exploring in more depth later. While it does depend on a storage system (battery), it would only take one of these to power my homestead. I’d still have to weigh longevity of its capacity and cost of replacement before I’d change my mind about going with the backwards meter. Which might cost me less over time and avoids the necessity to either turn off the solar cells or send the wind energy to a heat sink as waste.

Next week I’m planning a series looking at the best and most affordable technologies out there right now, and what’s on line for the future.