Off-Grid 101

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Land

Woody Harrelson: Getting off the grid

Harrelson is an all-organic vegan, and he and his family spend time well off the grid in the Hawaiian forest with 40 other families in a community that has no power lines sticking into it and no sewers or water mains under its earth.

woody-3752273
Harrelson loves Hemp and Hawaii

It’s a totally self-sufficient way of life that Harrelson thinks is more achievable than most believe. He offers tips on how to do it on the people-power Web site he and his wife, Laura Louie, have created at www.voiceyourself.com.

But how does a mega-star rationalize his larger-than-life existence with his simple aspirations?…

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Alternative Energy Bangladesh: Reaching Where the Grid Can’t

[Via Alternative Energy Blog]

Bangladesh is experiencing a severe energy delivery crisis. The Financial Express of Bangladesh says load shedding and suspension of production in industrial zones due to low gas pressure is a daily occurrence. the Government is turning to solar energy to remedy the shortfall.

Access to electricity in Bangladesh is one of the lowest in the world. The coverage stands around 30 per cent of the total population. However, the rural areas of Bangladesh, where nearly 80 per cent of the population live, only have about 10% coverage.…

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Energy

Power Toys

Here are a few technical toys for getting and using power in an off-grid home.

Power Toys
Power Toys need power

Starting with the NiMH battery Charger, it holds 4 AA or AAA NiMH batteries, and charges from 120vac housepower or 12vdc car power as input. About $20 from Walmart, and came with 4 AA NiMH batteries.

That gives me power for all those battery sucking devices like flashlights, remote control vehicles my boy’s like, clocks, and caller ID phones.

Next up in the Power toolbox is my Kill-A-Watt. …

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Energy

What is off-grid?

Being off-grid means something different to everyone. To me it simply means not being tethered to the services one normally expects of society.

Steve Spence and his Veggie Gen
Steve Spence and his Veggie Gen

No power grid, no water or sewer grid, and in some cases, no communications grid. Some are permanently off-grid (like ourselves), others only temporarily off-grid, in the form of RV’s, boats, vehicles, etc. When one is off-grid, one has to provide some of those services (the ones deemed necessary) for oneself.

As a new addition to the Off-Grid team, I will explain ways to obtain power, water, communications and other self provided services, and show some of the neat appropriate technologies available to you in this area. I will be presenting solutions like Rain Water Harvesting, Composting Toilets, Solar, BioThermal and Wind power, Cellular and Satellite voice/data communications, and environmental controls (Heating/Cooling) in stationary and mobile environments.

I currently use a combination of wind, pv, and Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) fueled diesel co-generation on our off-grid farmstead.

Welcome to the journey.…

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Join the Off-Grid Team

POSTED 12TH MARCH 2005

We need at least three people to help us build www.off-grid.net into a center for people who want to live, work or travel in a new, free, eco-friendly way.

Ad sales person
UK research/admin volunteer
US research/admin volunteer
Other research volunteers – e.g. Australia and New Zealand

AD SALES PERSON

This is a paid position, based in the UK or the US, and on your shoulders will rest the responsibility to make the site financially viable.

We need a web literate, commercially minded person, who believes in the message on the site, that we can live off-grid in comfort, save money and be good to the planet at the same time.

Responsibilities include: supervising all advertising sales; developing relationships with long term advertisers; marketing to support the ad sales effort; coordinating with the tech team to ensure banners are well positioned and web stats are fed back to clients; promoting the retail items we sell on the site; sourcing more products for us to sell on the site.

You will need to know the nuts and bolts of Internet commerce, how do I do a good affiliate deal, and what is a bad one? What is a fair price for a banner ad? How do you count clickthroughs? No Nu-be’s please!

You will be equally at home offering a discount to an advertiser of solar panels for a banner on our home page, or negotiating with a manufacturer for a discount on a wind turbine to be sold in our online store.

At least 3 years relevant experience preferred; good teamwork vital.

This is a full time job (or more) The basic pay is $800 per month as an advance against sales targets. With excellent bonuses and achievable targets you should be bringing in $2500 within three months. After that pay will increase with the success of the site.

Please email nick@off-grid.net or call +44 7971 543703.

RESEARCH VOLUNTEERS

We need people to be constantly out there researching the latest off-grid developments, finding good stories, good writers, potential advertisers; making links to to other sites, and requesting links from them; representing off-grid in discussion groups and forums.

All expenses paid — i.e. phone calls and Internet connections.

Please email: nick at www.off-grid.net or call +44 7971 543703 – due to high levels of spam, do not assume an email you sent was actually received.…

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Land

Beach Hut Crazy

Part of the reason for going off-grid is the obscene price of property. But even high-earners will be appalled at the 140,000 asking price for a small beach hut in Dorset.

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Crazy places – crazy prices

Hut 180, and the 344 like it, sits on a spit of sand and shingle between the natural lagoon of Christchurch Harbour in Dorset and Christchurch Bay, with the Isle of Wight and the Needles in view eight miles away.…

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Tony Juniper — how to be Off-grid

Tony Juniper cycles and walks whenever he can, but the Director of Friends of the Earth UK freely admits that it is not always possible to live a 100% pure green life. And he told Off-grid he was inspired by the spiritual environmentalism of the Southern hemisphere rather than the science-based analysis we use in the West.

Tony Juniper
Inspired by “spiritual” environmentalism

I am constantly challenged as to how to withdraw (from the world of mainstream consumption) he told Off-grid. And like a lot of people I am defeated. At home, we buy Energy from one of the green producers. It’s wind generated. And things like transport you can make a lot of difference walking, or bicycle and train.…

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Land

Fantasy Island

A holiday is in the eye of the beholder. No Swimming pool, no tv, no minbars For those who want to truly off-grid when they take off, Petit Byahaut, located on St.Vincent in the West Indies, would be far from the madding crowd, rather than just maddening.

Off-grid Cove
Tranquility is a human right

So what do you get? An Eco-resort that offers five Frangipani surrounded guesthouses with corrugated-roofed open-air bedrooms, natural beauty products, and fresh seafood hauled daily form the sea. But the most appealing aspect for the vacationing off-grider, is that whilst you let your body gradually unwind, your conscience can take a break too. …

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Warm indoors

What’s the most effective way generating enough off-grid energy? Try not needing quite so much in the first place. According to the National Energy Foundation, in a typical UK home a third of the heat produced by a central heating system is unnecessarily and rapidly lost. As winter makes its hasty approach, try taking a few of these heat saving techniques to make sure you will be like the proverbial bug in the rug…

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Land

Pod Life

Off-Grid loves any excuse to kick back and enjoy the view, and design team The Collaborators have made it possible to do that just about anywhere. Their Pods come in all shapes and sizes, and they allow you to create your own space and relax, wherever you can find a place to hang your pod.

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Life’s a Pod

Transported in its own flat carrying case and coined “The seat to watch the apocalypse by”, all you have to do is find a nice tree or girder and swing whenever you feel inspired. …

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Fund your Off-grid dreams with OPM (other people’s money)

Wouldn’t it be lovely if someone offered you between 400 to 5000 to cut your bills, help the environment and get off-grid?

Following the success of the Clear Skies scheme, aimed to provide householders and communities with grants and advice to help reduce the amount of fossil fuels used and realize the benefits of renewable energy, the Department of Trade and Industry(DTI) has announced additional funding of  2.5m, and extended the scheme until March 2006.…

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How to build your own Power Plant

So you live in a two bed room semi detached house in a regular housing estate. Despite appearances, (and perhaps assumptions), even the most conventional house can have it’s own off-grid revolution, and even go one step further; by becoming a power station in its own right.

And how would you do that? Through the implementation of a system known as ‘micro-generation’, which is quietly transforming energy in the domestic environment. …

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How We Went Off-Grid

Order Here How We Went Off-Grid

20 x 8 Ft. Outdoor Storage Shed, Desert Sand

Order Here 20 x 8 Ft. Outdoor Storage Shed, Desert Sand