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What does it mean to be self-sufficient? For some the simple answer is taking care of ones self. For others, it is more extreme. They want to live without the help of others. The purpose of this section is as a resource for those who desire to live in between these two ideas. I have often thought that I would like to turn back time and find some acreage where I could grow my own food. Don’t know that I would raise cows, chickens or pigs. Just having a garden with fresh organic vegetables could be wonderful. It was just a few generations ago that our grandmothers or great-grandmothers made quilts to keep warm, sewed clothes, made jams & jellies, made soap and made those homemade berry pies. |
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Fuel & Hydrogen Cells — Renewable Energy Products & Services
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Sources for Fuel & Hydrogen Cells |
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Using Flywheels for Energy Storage
| ASPES Engineering AG – Graphic comparisons of power, rotor speed, and energy. Bibliography includes English and German titles. |
| Beacon Power – Makes 2 and 6 kilowatt-hour flywheel (kinetic-electric) energy storage units. |
| FAQ: Kinetic Energy Storage – ASPES Engineering AG site with technical information and theory on flywheels and design. Photos of failures. |
| Flywheel energy storage – Wikipedia – article includes equation for kinetic energy |
| Flywheel Energy Systems, Inc. – Private corporation to "bring flywheel technology to the marketplace" Rotors, testing, and systems. |
| Flywheel Theory – Basics of flywheel energy storage, with links to many other sites. |
| Flywheels – Technical paper and information on exotic bearings for flywheels. |
| Flywheels channel at Power Design 365 – articles, product information and vendors |
| Motor Generator – Brushless DC Motor – on motor types for high speed flywheel energy storage. |
| PowerCorp – Markets PowerStore flywheel system. |
| Regenerative Power and Motion: A Low-Loss Flywheel Battery – technology and applications of stationary model. |
| RPM’s Flywheel Battery – Flywheel battery described as having near-zero storage (idling) loss, unlimited service life with no maintenance, ultra-high power conversion efficiency. |
| Tribology Systems, Inc. – Solid-lubricated bearing technology. Operational speeds can range up to 500,000 RPM, with temperatures up to 1000 F. Links to flywheel battery information. |
| Pentadyne Selected as “Most Promising Company” – at Energy Venture Fair V. Flywheel maker lauded. (November 22, 2004) |
| Liebert FS Advanced Flywheel Energy Storage System – Emerson Network Power announcement of new product. (October 13, 2004) |
Batteries — Renewable Energy Products & Services
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Alternative Energy Solutions LLC: We have been in the battery and related accessory manufacturing and distribution business for over 15 years. All products are manufactured using only the highest quality name brand cells, plastics and internal components. All batteries are guaranteed to meet or exceed the original equipment manufacturer’s specifications, including fit, design and performance and come with a full money back guarantee. Located in Carlsbad, California |
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Banner Batterien: Bull brand batteries |
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Deka East Penn Manufacturing Co: Deep cycle, industrial fork lift, gelled, sealed and other lead acid batteries. |
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Douglas Battery Manufacturing Company : Lead acid batteries |
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Dyno Battery : Deep cycle, marine batteries, Automotive and Gel Batteries |
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Dyno Battery Inc Lead Acid Batteries: Located in Farmington Hills, Michigan |
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EBC Korea Co Ltd: Lead acid industrial batteries |
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Exide Technologies : Lead Acid Batteries |
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FIAMM Technologies Inc: Lead Acid Batteries |
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General Battery Corporation (GBC) now Enersys General Battery : General, HUP, Renegade and Alpha Batteries |
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Industrial Battery Engineering Inc: High Capacity Industrial Type for deep cycle operation |
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Iowa Thin Film Technologies: Battery chargers, military tents |
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Ningbo Osel Battery Co Ltd: China manufacturer of lithium battery, alkaline battery, carbon battery and flashlight. |
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Northwest Energy Storage: Selling the Solar-One, a HUP (high utilization positive) battery |
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Power Battery Company Inc.: Lead acid, VRLA batteries |
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Rolls Battery Engineering: a manufacture of high quality deep cycle, lead-acid batteries engineered for most renewable energy uses. With a line of dual container, non-breakable batteries up to 1104ah. Located in Salem, Massachusetts |
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Solar Online Australia: Suppliers of solar and wind power equipment including solar panels, wind turbines, regulators, power inverters, deep cycle batteries and technical information. |
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Surrette Battery Company Limited : Deep Cycle Batteries |
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Trojan Battery : Deep Cycle Batteries |
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US Battery : Deep Cycle Batteries |
Controllers — Renewable Energy Products & Services
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Sources for Controllers |
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Solar Videos
| Wind and Solar Energy How-To From: billypopp Video description of how I’ve setup a solar / wind electric generating system for the first time. This is to power a radio tower in Enfield Maine. But, it could apply to any solar power or wind power application. |
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| Spray-On Solar-Power Cells Are True Breakthrough From: snarfelhamana SOLAR REVOLUTION – Solar Paint For more information:
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| Largest Solar Field In The World From: videosphere The largest photo-voltaic installation in the world is located near Arnstein, Germany. While visiting my family, my friend Sepp offered to take us there, a short distance from Schweinfurt. For more information: |
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| Energy Innovations on Discovery Channel From: stoopidutoobname Here’s the EI spot that aired on Discovery. EI is a cutting edge hitech company that is revolutionizing the solar power industry with their concentrating system. |
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| Solar Air Conditioning From: tculhane This video starts with a visual montage of the sheer number of air conditioners used on our street in Cairo, Egypt, describing them as energy parasites that actually increase the heat of the surrounding air. It then shows the vacuum tube heat pipe solar absorption cooling air conditioning system installed by solar engineer Les Hamasaki at the Debs Park Audubon Environmental Center in Los Angeles. Les Hamasaki describes the 10-ton solar chiller and we conclude with a note about how solar chillers not only eliminate the need for air conditioners,… |
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| Solar House Lights From: wheels773 I turned on all the lights so I could get video of the house at night. About 15 lights on, drawing less power than 2-60 watt incandescent bulbs. My solar system made about 3000 watts of electricity on this hazy day. |
Using SuperCapacitors for Energy Storage
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Supercapacitors (also known as ultracapacitors) are DC energy sources and must be interfaced to the electric grid with a static power conditioner, providing 60-Hz output. A supercapacitor provides power during short duration interruptions and voltage sags. By combining a supercapacitor with a battery-based uninterruptible power supply system, the life of the batteries can be extended. The batteries provide power only during the longer interruptions, reducing the cycling duty on the battery. Small supercapacitors are commercially available to extend battery life in electronic equipment, but large supercapacitors are still in development, but may soon become a viable component of the energy storage field. source |
Links to Information about Solar Energy
| Illinois Solar Energy Association: Seeks to provide education and resources through monthly meetings, sponsored events, expositions, and competitions. Site features educational articles, newsletter, rebate program information and links. |
| Independent Step-By-Step Guide To Purchasing A Solar Energy System – Solarbuzz: |
| Indirect Forms Of Solar Energy: |
| Industry Development Strategy For The PV Sector: by Eric Ingersoll, Daniel C. Gallagher, and Romana A. Vysatova |
| Insolation (Solar Radiation) Data Base 30 Year: Database of actual measured solar radiation for hundreds of US cities over a 30-year period. This is the standard database for figuring nearly all-solar electric systems. |
| Inspira: Custom design, prototyping, manufacturing and testing of equipment for the solar energy industry. |
| Institut For Solar Technology SPF: A research and testing institute for thermal solar energy. Main specialties: collectors, systems, materials and software to calculate and optimize collector system properties. [German, English, French, Spanish, Italian] |
| Institute For Sustainable Power: nonprofit corporation, organized to provide a quality framework for the accreditation of training programs. |
| Inti Tech: Solar energy system consultant specialists in AC/DC photovoltaic hydroelectric power generation. Offers alternative energy solutions for electricity production, water delivery, communications and remote living applications. |
| ISECO Solar Energy Co Ltd : Providing solar water heating systems for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Includes a list of completed projects. |
| ISES 2005 Solar World Congress: Links to call for papers, preliminary schedule for 5 day International Solar Energy Society event in Orlando, Florida (USA). |
| ISES Italia Sezione Dellinternational Solar Energy Society: Associazione per la formazione e l’informazione nel campo delle fonti di energia rinnovabile e gli usi razionali dell’energia. |
| JC Solar House Plans And Solar Collectors: Contains a lot of information about solar energy panels, solar hot water, and solar collectors. |
| Jerry Halsteads: EV conversion of 1985 Mazda with full web based chronicle. Excellent site! |
| Kangaroo Building Services: Residential and commercial window cleaning/power washing, as well as sales and installation of energy efficient solar screens. Includes company history and references. |
| Kiraly Josef: Photographs of completed solar panel home projects. Includes energy requirements. Based in Austria. |
| L5 Development Group: A privately funded, for profit, space exploration and development program whose initial business plan is to build space colonies at L5 and manufacture solar power satellites to meet the Earth’s energy needs |
| LC Solar: Wholesale suppliers of photovoltaic solar panels worldwide. An article on solar energy can be found along with product details, information on their use, care and warranty. |
| LENS: Low Energy Neutrino Spectroscopy aims to measure the solar neutrino spectrum at low energy in real time. |
| LH2com Hydrogen And Liqud Hydrogen Energy Resources: Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) or Hydrogen Energy website. Chat with like minds on our bulletin board. Search manufacturers, inventors, investors, fuel cells, energy, wind, solar, cars, international news. |
| Lino Apontes: site to informs Puerto Rico locals about solar energy. |
| NEW Living on Solar Energy: We have created this site to show how we are living on solar. We have made and will be making solar videos that can be watched through this site showing the various ways that we use the sun to provide for our energy needs. |
| Low Temperature And Solar Stirling Engines: Stirling engines that demonstrate the conversion of unconcentrated sunlight or low temperature heat into mechanical energy. These engines are suitable as demonstration models in schools and universities. |
| Manytracks: Information about homesteading, organic gardening, self-sufficiency, seed saving, solar energy and recumbent bicycles. |
| Metcalfs Solar Power And Light: Details about a home solar photovoltaic system in Glendale, California. |
| Methods Of Producing Energy Out Of Solar Heat : from the Polytechnical College of Esslingen, Germany. |
| Mexico Solar: Offers design, installation, and maintenance of solar energy home heating and water heating devices. |
| Michael Bott: BP Solar 1.7Kwh system installed and commissioned on 6 Jan 2005. I have been monitoring the systems output daily and placing system output data on the site. |
| Michael Klemen: my renewable energy experiences including lots of real life wind turbine/PV data and service histories for 9 different turbines are here. |
| Michael Macfaden: A residential grid-tied PV system install with a live 24-hour production report. |
| Microsolar: manufacturer and exporter of multi-valve solar water heating systems and solar panels for residential and industrial applications. |
| Million Solar Roofs Solar Technologies: Solar Hot Water : This site provides information on the US Department of Energy’s sponsored Million Solar Roofs Initiative. This initiative will enable businesses and communities to install solar systems on one million rooftops across the United States by 2010. |
| Mobile Solar: Specializing in wireless energy such as solar cells/chargers, flashing antennae and phone accessories. |
| Moscow We Have A Problem: An interview with NASA officials about a serious accident aboard the Mir station caused when the Mir cosmonauts lost control of a resupply ship, crashing it into the space station. The collision caused a depressurization and damaged the station’s solar panels. [PBS] |
| MSK Corporation : |
| Mystery Of Nazca Lines: Alla Belokon suggests that the lines represent our Solar system planets as crystal structure nodes, and was built by a flow of directed energy of unknown nature from the air. |
| NASA Langley Distributed Active Archive (DAAC) : Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy Data Set |
| NASA SOHO: |
| National Center For Photovoltaics (NCPV): U.S. Department of Energy. Research and development, and information source on photovoltaics. Website includes a virtual library of online reference materials and photographs on photovoltaic technology, educational materials, links to commercial suppliers and other web resources. |
| National Park Service Renewable Energy Applications: |
| National Photovoltaic Environmental Health And Safety Assistance Center: Information and analysis on environmental aspects of photovoltaic (solar electric) technology, including concerns about heavy metals in solder. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. |
| Natural Energy Solar Pool Heating Systems: Solar pool heating systems, installations in California and Nevada. Ordering information, product descriptions and specifications. |
| Natural Energy Source: Offers a variety of natural energy products and turnkey wind and solar power arrangements. |
| Nemo Solar DC Submersible Well Pumps: Sells energy-efficient 12 and 24 VDC submersible well pumps, to be powered by battery, inverter, or directly by solar modules. |
| Nevada PV Pilot With Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) (Nevada PV Bill): Pilot programs have been approved to accelerate the market development for distributed PV installations in schools, public buildings, and individual residential and small business establishments. |
| New Jersey Zero Energy Remodeling Project Points The Way To Gains In Residential Energy Efficiency: |
| Next Edge: Provider of energy solutions, energy efficient lighting, HVAC retrofitting, cogeneration, back-up power, and solar energy. |
| Noaas Solar And Thermal Atmospheric Radiation (STAR) : |
| Noaas SURFRAD Network: |
| North Sun 2001 Conference: A conference focusing on all aspects of solar energy. |
| Norwegian Solar Energy Society (ISES Norway): Features contact information and links. (Most of the site is in Norwegian.) |
| Novasol Inc: Solar And Wind Energy: Sales, installations, system designs. |
| NREL: Photovoltaics For Buildings: includes information on photovoltaics (PV) or solar electricity for homes and commercial buildings and PV research at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. |
| Number One Source Ltd : Offers solar energy, passive cooling and wind energy systems including system design, procurement and construction. Includes news on current projects. Located on the West Bank. |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory Engineering Science And Technology Division |
| : R&D organization specializing in industrial and buildings energy efficiency; energy utilization technologies; transportation analysis; solar technology; and related areas. |
| Optical Energy Technologies Inc : Manufacture non-tracking concentrating solar collectors, and install and service solar energy systems. Includes product overviews and photographs. |
| Overview Of Solar Thermal Technologies: an overview of the technologies for generating electricity from the concentration of solar thermal energy, this site is maintained by EREN. |
Links to Information about Solar Energy
| Sage Farm Solar Home: Virtual tour of energy efficient residence that has evolved over 20 years to demonstrate several approaches for capturing and using solar energy. |
| Sandia expertise experience key factors in newly dedicated Solar Two power tower: taken from Sandia Lab News, June 1996. |
| Sandia Laboratory Photovoltaics Program: |
| Sandia National Laboratories Photovoltaics : |
| Scandinavian Homes: Providers of energy saving timber houses with triple glazing and heat-recovery-ventilation systems, based in Ireland. Utilising passive solar heating and pressurized water systems with water-saving mixers. |
| SCELL 2004 International Conference on the Physics Chemistry and Engineering of Solar Cells: SCELL-2004 is intended as a vehicle for the dissemination of research results on materials science and technology related to photovoltaic, photothermal and photoelectrochemical solar energy conversion. Badajoz, Spain, 13-15 May 2004 |
| Sepco Solar Electric Powercompany: Providing a line of commercial, mass-produced, engineered products powered by solar energy. |
| Services for Professionals in Solar Energy and Radiation: Resource with information and databases on solar radiation and energy. Includes Java based calculators for a range of scientific and industrial domains. |
| Shanghai Ningtong High Tech Co : Manufacturer of solar energy products, LED products, IC toys and electronic products. |
| Solar: Learn more about solar energy technologies such as photovoltaic systems, concentrating solar systems, passive solar heating and daylighting, solar hot water, and solar process heat and space cooling. |
| Solar Bubble Build: Interior-environment control system that uses liquid bubble insulation, dynamic liquid cooling, and solar energy collection based on the principles of the Solaroof developed by Richard Nelson. |
| Solar Building Design: article by Steven Heckeroth in the Backwoods Home Magazine presenting four projects harnessing the sun’s energy. |
| Solar Buildings: (good introductory material) |
| Solar Car Team : Official website of Iowa State University solar car team. |
| Solar Cells: An introduction to solar electric technology and the manufacture and use of solar cells. |
| Solar Cells Limited: provides solar cells and rechargeable batteries along with distribution of solar panels and kits. |
| Solar Chef High Performance Solar Oven: Sun oven |
| Solar Collector and Solar Home Plans: Design a solar home, build your own solar collectors, and install your own solar water heating system with a little help from JC |
| Solar Design Company: Supplier and installer of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly heat and power systems. |
| Solar Energy Information: learn about Solar energy, Energy Savings, Solar Energy Advantages and Solar Power How It Works… |
| Solar Energy Systems & Service: Provides solar heating, photovoltaic pool heating, heat pumps and related services. Includes photos, descriptions and contact details. |
| Solar Energy Systems Limited: Offers cost effective solar powered technology solutions for water pumping, grid feed electricity generation, remote area power supply, and other solar technology applications. |
| Solar Enterprises Inc : Designs and installs alternative energy systems. |
| Solar Environment Center (Pictures of the Sun today!): |
| Solar Heating and Cooling: Information about each of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme Tasks. |
| Solar Mountain Energy: Designs and installs solar electrical systems in the Rocky Mountain area. |
| Solar Parabolic Troughs : (PDF document from EREN) |
| Solar Power Answers: Information on the design and application of stand-alone photovoltaic systems including system design calculators. |
| NEW What is Solar Power?: Electromagnetic energy transmitted from the sun (solar radiation) is referred to as solar energy. Power in general is energy per unit time. Only a very small portion of total solar power reaches the earth. Numerically, this amount is characterized by solar constant- the average amount of solar radiation that reaches the earth’s upper atmosphere on a surface perpendicular to the sun’s rays. Solar constant is approximately 1366-1367 watts per square meter or 433 Btu/hr per square foot… |
| Solar Power Towers: from the Polytechnical College of Esslingen, Germany. |
| Solar process heat and space heating and cooling: Industrial and commercial uses of the sun’s heat. |
| Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC) : This is the site of the national solar collector and system certification organization. SRCC provides one-time certification, national recognition, product credibility, and standardized comparisons of solar energy products. |
| Solar Revolution: University of Virginia Solar Car Program. Find out more info about our program. |
| Solar Sculptures: Provides photos of energy sculpture installations by Joan Webster Price and Herbert Price. |
| Solar Site: Lists innovative uses of solar energy used around the planet. |
| Solar Solutions Design & Drafting: Solar Solutions design energy efficient and healthy homes to suit your block, lifestyle and budget. |
Links to Information about Solar Energy
| Pacific Energycompany: Supplying San Luis Obispo County with clean burning stoves, fireplaces and solar energy equipment. |
| Pacific Solar Screens Las Vegas: Product shades window blinds from sun fading and conserves energy. |
| Parabolic-Trough Technology : Roadmap document recently published by SunLab (PDF format) |
| Passive Solar Housing: How to build homes that use less than half the energy of conventional homes yet will fit into a typical suburban neighborhood. |
| Peak Energy: Energy management consultancy, including wind and solar. Profile, services and tariff. |
| Philadelphia Million Solar Roofscommunity Partnership: Find out about this collaboration of local organizations and small businesses committed to helping the five county region of Southeastern Pennsylvania contribute over 500 new solar energy installations by 2010. |
| Photo Voltaic Energy Servicecompanies: Project of the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) which attempts to demonstrate a framework through which solar electricity services can be provided in rural areas of Zambia in a sustainable manner. |
| Photovoltaic (Solar Cell) Systems: Producing electricity directly from sunlight. |
| Photovoltaic Cells: Photovoltaic (PV) cells are devices that convert sunlight to electricity, bypassing thermodynamic cycles and mechanical generators. PV stands for photo (light) and voltaic (electricity), whereby sunlight photons free electrons from common silicon. The phenomenon was first discovered in the 18th century. The photovoltaic cells were developed at Bell Labs in 1950 primarily initially for space applications. The Hubbell telescope utilizes solar panels for its energy requirements. |
| Photovoltaicscom: buy and sell used, broken and new solar cells and panels. |
| Pioneer Systems Alternative Energy Power Sources: Wind power turbines and generators, solar electric, battery powered AC for remote sites, remote telecommunications |
| Policies To Support A Distributed Energy System: by Thomas J. Starrs and Howard J. Wenger |
| Powersat Corporation: Describes and promotes a concept of placing large solar cells in orbit and wirelessly transferring the energy to a receiving station on earth. |
| Princeton University Physics Department: Borexino Group. Experiment being performed in Italy designed to detect low-energy solar neutrinos. |
| Public Education And Professional Training: by Larry Shirley, Shawn Fitzpatrick, and Chris Larsen |
| PV Web: Information about photovoltaic power and solar electricity from the British Photovoltaic Association, which supports development of these technologies in the UK. |
| PVACCEPT | Photovoltaics Research Project: PVACCEPT is a European Union funded German-Italian research and demonstration project. It aims at designing and developing marketable solar modules for electricity generation. |
| PVTEC: Photovoltaic Power Generation Technology Research Association |
| Pyramid Powercompany: Transportable remote area power system. Based on solar energy, Pyramid Power is a total package , including Solar modules Photovoltaic), Batteries, Inverter, Regulator |
| Pyronsolar: designers of a photovoltaic power plant concept using optical tracking to maximize energy conversion. |
| QIS Solarwise Solar Energy Pool Heating And Insulation: QIS is in the energy conservation industry. Specialises in Solarwise Pool heating, Ventilation, and Insulation products for domestic, commercial and industrial markets. |
| Ra Energy Foundation : |
| Ready Made Resources: Offers books, foods, medical supplies, weapons of mass destruction protection, non-electric appliances, solar and wind energy equipment, and videos. |
| Renewable Energy Association Of Central Texas : |
| Renewable Northwest Projet: Solar Energy Technology |
| Renwable Energy Access : Get the latest Renewable Energy News – conveniently delivered to your email in-box, every business day! |
| Residential Energy Efficiency Database: Savings guide; construction; site, solar, and house plans; attics, insulation and vapor barriers. |
| Retractable Solar Screens: Offering solar screens, retractable patio awnings and energy saving products. |
| RE-Wrenches: Messages forum for solar installers and interested bystanders. |
| RF Energy Via Ionospheric Reflection: Presents a concept and experiment data for extracting RF energy from the Solar excitation of the ionosphere layers and a simple reflecting antenna system. |
| Rural Electrification With Solar Energy As A Climate Protection Strategy (January 2000): As the world struggles to control energy-related greenhouse gases, electricity-starved rural families in the developing world toil to build decent lives. Photovoltaic systems provide a unified solution, bringing power to these that need it, while making a moderate but important contribution to climate protection. [html format] |
| RV Solar Electric Inc : Solar consulting, information, education and products in the field of alternative energy for recreational vehicles. Good RV information. |
| RV Solar Power: RV solar power system. Personal home page describing the installation of a complete RV photovoltaic system in a 5th wheel. Pictures and diagrams. |