The Water MotorWe all know how an industrial electric motor operates. You have a power switch. It turns electric current on and off to an electric motor, which then does work. That work can be pushing a cart, a fridge, a submersible water pump, or any number of rotary devices. What do you do off the grid, in the mountains of South America, where there is no power supply? What do you use to give power supply for your electric motor? Enter Ron & Diane in Bolivia, and their “Water Motor“. A unique Micro-Hydro device that uses the power of a falling stream to power stationary devices like saws, mills and generators like home generators and so on.
>>Keep reading “How to build a Water Motor”

Glitz is good

Oprah’s opened a new school as part of her Leadership Academy in South Africa – and it’s off-grid! Although it’s more out of necessity than for lofty environmental reasons – electricity and water at the site are unreliable, and the building only used to have four toilets.

“The Seven Fountains ” is Oprah’s second school in South Africa, after the exclusive – and controversy-laden - Leadership Academy for Girls outside Johannesburg opened in January. That project was criticized for spending $40m on a school for only 152 pupils
>>Keep reading “My off-grid school, by Oprah Winfrey”

Roscheisen…world-beatingAlternative Energy is the Internet of the new millenium: world-changing new technology that is causing a Venture Capital stampede. The question is: how to pick the winners.

All solar technologies balance the three requirements that make solar power price-competitive with other methods of power generation: efficiency (the fraction of light energy that is converted to electricity), manufacturing cost, and longevity.

Using nanotechnology, a private company called Nanosolar claims it has optimized these three requirements. and can build solar panels which are more efficient, cheaper and longer-lasting than any other company. “Our mission is very simple,” says their web site: A Solar Panel on Every Building.
>>Keep reading “The Google of Renewables”

Fancy a swim?

Solar hot water heaters can be a cost-effective way to heat the swimming pool at your off-grid palace. Even multi-million dollars homes in places like Monterey, California, have installed solar hot water heaters to reduce the potential energy costsof their swimming pool.

This isn’t just a celebrity trend, though – you can buy ready-made solar pool kits to that are easy to install in the off-grid shop starting at $220 (J125) - whereas you’ll have to dish out around £700 on ebay, and for US customers kits start at around $600 going up to $1,175.00. You’ll need to provide the PVC piping, diverter valve and a support or rack system for some of these.

It’s even possible to build your own from a discarded radiator and a can of black paint.
>>Keep reading “Solar pool heaters”

Mine, all mine

Richard Branson’s got himself another island to play with. There won’t be a huge hotel complex or golf course – instead, Branson is hoping to make Moskito Island into an eco-resort. Or does that sound too good to be true? Branson’s first tourism venture was the Residencia Hotel in Majorca where his people famously barred the public from using the local beach, cutting down old trees as a barrier.
Branson’s new island takes its name from the Moskito Indians who lived in the area from before the 1500s – and not from an excess of mosquitoes as it might suggest. It’s only 124 acres in size – and one mile away from another Branson celebrity retreat, Necker Island. Branson wants his latest purchase to serve as an eco-friendly example to the rest of the resorts out there.

He said: “I was terrified that Moskito would end up in the wrong hands and be ruined.
>>Keep reading “Branson’s New Toy”

Festival year starts soonThis is the launch of our regularly updated Festival guide focusing on places where you are expected to stay off-grid in tents or vehicles but including every kind of Fest.

Thanks to Sing Out! for much of the information. Please email us at Off-grid if you want to add to our listing. This is a free listing, from a variety of sources. To have your event listed, e-mail the information to us.

WORLD’S BIGGEST FEST-LIST

LEGEND: CO = CAMPING ON-SITE; CR = CAMPING REMOTE ; HO = HOOKUPS ON-SITE; HR = HOOKUPS REMOTE; A = WHEELCHAIRS OK ; I = INTERPRETED FOR HEARING IMPAIRED

MAY

5/1-6; SHENANDOAH APPLE BLOSSOM FEST–Where: Winchester, Va. Info: John H. Rosenberger II, Exec. Director, Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, 135 N. Cameron St., Winchester, VA 22601; Ph: 540-662-3863; Fx: 540-662-7274. (E-mail: ; Web: < www.thebloom.com >). 649 to go….
>>Keep reading “650 Festivals and Camps - 2007 Calendar”

Alleluja It seems George Bush has been listening to the light gods – he’s recently given White House funding to a project trying to harness energy from sunlight and interior light to wirelessly power everything from cellphones to signboards.
The company – Konarka Technologies – takes its name from an ancient temple in India dedicated to the sun god Surya, and was founded by Berke and Alan Heeger, who shared the 2000 Nobel Chemistry prize for showing that certain plastics can be made to conduct electricity.
>>Keep reading “Bush sees the light”

Schoolbus RV
Check out the Mobile Homestead. Michael & Millie have documented their mobile, school bus conversion so others can learn and duplicate their work. The 1991 GMC/Ward 66 Passenger School Bus is shown at the various stages of conversion, and all the steps taken to …
>>Keep reading “Mobile Homesteading”

Ego-trippersWe think Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter and singer Bono are the chewing gum stuck to the shoe of the green movement, but Hollywood’s green elite know better.It seems not a month goes by without some magazine doing ‘the Green issue’, and Vanity Fair loved it so much the first time, they’re doing their second green issue this May.

Last Wednesday night’s Natural Resources Defense Council gala gave the usual green suspects – including Leonardo DiCaprio, Glenn Close, Bette Midler, Kevin Bacon, and John Mellencamp – a chance to praise editor Graydon Carter’s greenness.
>>Keep reading “Vanity Fair’s greenwash”