Other Power - Review
The folks at otherpower.com are extremely busy building new wind energy projects, as is evident by the massive amount of information available on their website. Even the most novice do-it-yourselfer could find enough information there to construct a fully functioning wind energy system for their house. There are do-it-yourself instructions, forums, and they even host conferences and workshops to showcase the latest ideas and projects. You can browse the classified ads or shop in their store for hard-to-find parts and accessories.
Quote from Other Power:
We are a group of alternative energy enthusiasts who want to spread the message that It’s EASY to make your own power FROM SCRATCH! Otherpower.com’s headquarters is located in a remote part of the Northern Colorado mountains, 15 miles past the nearest power pole or phone line. All of our houses and shops run on only solar, wind, water and generator power…not because we are trying to make some sort of political or environmental statement, but because these are the only options available. And we refuse to move to town.
We could never have made it to our current level of electrification up here without the help of friends, neighbors–and folks we’ve never met, thanks to the internet. Our goal is to share our information about experimental successes and failures alike, free of charge, with anyone who is interested. We also offer a wide selection of books and hard-to-find alternative energy parts and components on our web Shopping Cart. We hope you find our pages informative, useful and enjoyable!
Other Power Highlights:
Discussion Board
The most well-maintained do yourself wind energy message board on the Internet. While the focus is on wind generators and turbines, they also have discussions for solar, hydro and remote living topics like housing, heat, lighting and water.Efficient lighting
An excellent resource of information about transforming home lighting systems for greater efficiency. Photos and explanations of a variety of like all technologies.Energy experiments
A showcase of home energy experiments, focusing on unique and experimental alternators and wind turbines. The experiments presented here are not to be interpreted as “plans” or “kits”–they simply show what we did, and how it worked. Some of these experiments worked well, some were partially successful, and others were complete failures! But we hope that our experiences will provide a good starting point for your own experimentation.Energy products
Hard-to-find parts, kits, books and supplies for building wind turbines. A virtual book store concentrating on magnetism electricity experimental science and renewable energy. They also have a great selection of magnets and other high-tech materials and tools.Renewable energy links
A very lengthy list of the best renewable energy websites on the web. Focus on do-it-yourself information and technical resources.Solar power
Solar power is the basis for all life on earth! Solar heating has been used for thousands of years to warm dwellings. But solar electricity (photovoltaics) is a very new industry. We will be expanding this website to cover solar space and water heating soon–please email us with suggestions and your own experiences. For now, we are concentrating on solar electricity.Storage batteries
Your battery bank is THE MOST important part of your remote power system. If you have to cut corners to afford the system you need, skimp somewhere else. The rest of your system is only as good as the battery bank!Water power
Small scale hydropower has been used for hundreds of years for manufacturing, including milling grain, sawing logs and manufacturing cloth. However, it can also be used without a dam to generate electricity for home scale remote power systems. These so-called micro-hydro installations can be a very good complement to a solar power system, as they produce electricity 24 hours a day.Water pumping
Water pumping is a wonderful use for alternative power technology. Even if your ranch house is powered by conventional power from the grid, what about getting water to your cattle on the back 40? Windmills have been used for over 100 years for this purpose, but other alternative power methods are effective too. Really, ANYTHING is better than pumping water by hand, but gas powered generators are the worst of the bunch.Wind power
Wind power can be an excellent complement to a solar power system. Here in Colorado, when the sun isn’t shining, the wind is usually blowing. Wind power is especially helpful here in the winter to capture both the ferocious and gentle mountain winds during the times of least sunlight and highest power use. In most locations (including here) wind is not suitable as the ONLY source of power–it simply fills in the gaps left by solar power quite nicely.
Other Power is listed in the alternative energy directory.
