20 million windy US homes Turbine makers are starting to promote pint-size installations that can take a house or small business off the grid or take a bite out of an electric bill. For people who live where the wind howls — and where government subsidies can be had — home-brewed wind technology holds promise.

First off, you need a separate tower for your turbine – never try to fix it to the side of your house. Next…..
>>Keep reading “Easy backyard turbines”

Whether you’re a Civil libertarian or just want to be private, there’s little need to worry about the intrusive State with its Big Brother databases. The civil servants running the new systems are so incompetent (e.g. the Ministry of Defence stolen laptop) that the biggest fear is them losing your data. But private industry is another matter. From Facebook to Microsoft, They are watching You. Now the UIS Senate is considering a “do not track” command that could be issued by individual internet users.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a hearing Wednesday to debate what - if any - privacy protections Internet users should be given. Most of the senators on hand agreed that consumers know little about who or what is tracking their browsing behavior.

The UK government is burning $500m a year to build a national ID database that will duplicate the passport system and only cover those of us law abiding enough to register under our real names. Corporate databases will create their own parallel versions, or license government data for their own security checks.

But you can take a few steps to protect your privacy. Follow these simple tips, and Big Brother will be no bother:
>>Keep reading “Seven ways to drop off the grid”

If you are going off the grid for a weekend, you can use small solar chargers to power up phones, MP3 players and other devices - so which is the best?

Portable solar chargers have come on in recent years, but still have a way to go - they mainly require strong, direct sunlight to work reliably. At the bottom end of the market, you can easily get a 5 Watt, 12 Volt Solar Power Portable Panel that’s good for charging the small devices within a few hours (Click here for UK delivery).

Solio is one of the biggest names and one of the worst. It has spent a lot on PR - but the product sucks.
>>Keep reading “Portable solar chargers”

Ken Carman suggests a way to get more for less from your solar panels, as well as some other good ideas:

Two of the biggest challenges to creating an effective solar PV system are cost and the lack of available light in the winter.

Photovoltaic panels (PV) are very expensive. A decent panel runs between $55 and $65 dollars per square foot.
>>Keep reading “Money saving ideas”