Build It Solar will help people with Do It Yourself skills build solar projects that save money and reduce pollution. It is a "hands-on" site with detailed plans for solar projects including solar space heating, water heating, passive sola...More
Build It Solar will help people with Do It Yourself skills build solar projects that save money and reduce pollution. It is a "hands-on" site with detailed plans for solar projects including solar space heating, water heating, passive solar home design, solar pool heating, solar cooking, photovoltiacs, wind generators, and others.
Independently published since 1987, Home Power magazine and HomePower.com are resources dedicated to small-scale renewable energy and sustainable living technologies.
Plans and details for solar energy saving projects such as solar space and water heating, passive solar house design, Photovotiacs, wind generation, sunspaces, greenhouses, pool heating, small hydro, solar cooking, and energy conservation.
www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Projects.htm
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Solar Projects for the Do-It-Yourselfer!: Build-It-Solar is a renewable energy site that gives the environmental conscious do-it-yourselfer hundreds of ideas, tools and information to make their homes more energy efficient. This site contains step-by-step plans for more than 500 renewable energy and conservation projects that can be tackled by homeowners who consider themselves handy. A lot of thought and research went into presenting this material; it is well researched and very creative. I was impressed with the relative simplicity of some of the ideas, as well as the complexity of others. There are projects here for every skill level. I like that there is an area for experimental projects for the inquisitive do-it-yourselfer. My one suggestion for improvement would be to add a section that shows off the results from people who have used the plans for some of the solar projects.
Solar power - all you need for DIY: I have visited this site many times and I really appreciate it. An alternative energy site with the details you need to actually do projects. I personally have a stream in my backyard which is a possible mini-hydro source - but there are many considerations with mini-hydro, especially the amount of water flow and the distance from the mini-hydro to the point of use. This site does not shy away from the nitty gritty details!
The experimental section has many pictures (and build details!) of some solar heating ideas. Pictures of what other people have tried are very helpful - even when there have been failures.
I would prefer to see fewer ads on the front page - but I understand the need to pay the bills.
Great site for do-it-yourself solar projects to Go Green.: This site is an innovative way to reach out to people who want to save money, are independent, and care about the environment. The site provides ideas and directions to do renewable energy and conservation projects at home. It provides directions and information on all types of projects from sun spaces, to solar heating, to lighting, to vehicles. It even has solar projects for kids. It also provides things such as government incentives and CO2 calculators. The site is very appealing but has a lot of information and is a bit overwhelming. Someone who is just considering a solar project from home may not know where to begin with this site.