All you need to go off-grid

October 6, 2012

Mobile

Solar powered bicycle? Beware scam artists

A group of scam artists have launched a web site selling a solar powered bicycle. But the only thing it will end up powering is their bank account.

Be careful – they will take your money, a lot of it, and deliver a bike, but it will not be solar powered in any sense that you or I recognise. And it will not go faster or longer than you can go under your own power.

Solar powered bikes have intruiged inventors for decades now, but have you ever wondered why there are none on the market?

Its the battery stupid

Bikes are incredibly ergonomic. You push the pedals, this turns the gears and the power from your legs is amplified many times over into the speed of the wheels. The main thing that slows you down (apart from your own weight of course)? The weight of the bike.…

October 6, 2012 3 Comments

Self-Sufficiency

Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid

Even as we own more and more gadgets, and spend increasing amounts of time using them, the average energy consumption in American homes has dropped steadily over the past 30 years thanks to factors like more efficient appliances, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But for some, a little efficiency isn’t enough. “Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid” by Sheri Koones ($15.95) profiles more than 30 prefabricated homes that use minimal energy. The name is a taken from a BC company that actually makes prefab eco-homes.

They have features like heavily insulated walls, wastewater-recovery systems and passive heating; one home has a wind turbine on the roof. Prefabrication minimizes waste…

October 6, 2012 No Comments