Use One Heavy Power Load at a Time

15 years ago, my power system consisted of one solar panel, one golf cart battery, one DC light, and one DC car stereo. Today, I live in a modern off-the-grid home complete with many large energy-using electrical appliances, such as a washing machine, air conditioner, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, and baseboard heaters. Using these appliances off the grid is only possible by limiting their usage to one at a time, with the exception of the refrigerator (which remains on 24 hours a day). Unlike grid-connected homes, where it is common to see multiple large loads running simultaneously, most people living off the grid cannot run their washing machine while vacuuming, their heaters while washing dishes, etc. Alternative home energy systems are limited to the amount of power stored in the battery bank and what is being currently produced via wind, water, and/or sun for available power.

By only using one large power appliance at a time, these systems can keep up with home power demands. What if grid power users followed a similar model of power usage? What if people only used one large power draw at a time, thus using less power for longer periods of time, rather than using a lot of power over a shorter duration? Living in California, we are constantly reminded of rolling blackouts during peak power usage months. The "Flex Your Power" campaign advises grid users to wait until after 7:00pm, when there is less demand on the grid, to do laundry, wash dishes, etc. They call this "using appliances wisely." If everyone used heavy power loads with caution, perhaps our power grid would be less strained and function at a smaller energy producing capacity.

Monitor Your Meter

One prominent feature in every off the grid home is a meter within the living quarters. These meters often measure amps and volts, and allow the user to know how much power is available to them, and how much power is being used at any given moment. Gazing often at this meter becomes a part of life off the grid. As Dale Kittleson, interviewed on PBS NOW, said, "First thing in the morning, come down the stairs, look out the window, see if the sun is shining, look at the meter and see how far the batteries are from full." I look at my meter first thing in the morning, while using heavy power-using appliances, before I go to bed, etc. How often does someone living on the grid look at his or her meter? I would think that if people could see their meter spinning rapidly during high power usage in their home, they would use electricity more wisely. What if grid-connected houses’ meters were in the living quarters? Having the meter in a convenient location makes monitoring energy usage easy. No one wants to go outside in the rain or snow and gaze at his or her meter 10 times a day!

Kill the Phantoms

This sounds like good Halloween advice: Kill the phantoms! Electrical devices draw phantom loads when they are "off." TVs, computers, printers, etc. draw small loads of power when shut down, and these phantom loads add up. Every person I know living off the grid uses electrical outlet strips for phantom loads. They may not turn them off all of the time, but when the batteries are low, the phantoms are removed from their power source by flipping the power strip switch. If US grid homes turned off their phantom loads, it is estimated that a billion dollars would be saved on energy bills and enough power would be conserved to power Vietnam, Peru, and Greece!

These three simple ideas from living off the grid could help Americans use power more wisely. By using one heavy electrical load at a time, monitoring your meter, and killing phantom loads, grid users can learn from the over 200,000 US homes off the grid how to be more energy efficient. Sometimes, changing a light bulb just isn’t enough.

We are fortunate to have a wonderful creek that provides us with power via a turgo wheel (1100 watts), as well as two solar panels (170 watts) for backup. This is ample power for a family of four using CFLs, energy-saving appliances, etc. However, there are times when our power is down: large winter storms that fill the creek with leaves, and push the intake out of the water; creek levels drop in the summer and the dam needs rebuilding, etc. These are the times when my children experience down times from electricity, which is a good thing, depending upon how you spin it.

Several times a year, we are without power due to the aforementioned reasons. During these times, my children actually enjoy the close family time we spend. Sometimes we play a game by candlelight, read a book, snuggle close and tell stories, etc. It is amazing how power outages bring a family closer, and we always have a back-up generator and solar panels for recharging the batteries to keep the refrigerator running.

One thing that is nice about having your own power system is that when it is down, it is within your own power to go and fix. You don’t have to wait for the power company to rescue you. Young children often imitate the behavior of their adult models, and living off the grid provides opportunities for such modeling. When my daughter was two, she would get on her little wooden scooter and tell me she was going to fix the hydro! It was too cute! We have yet to involve our children in the maintenance of our system, as they are too little and the creek is usually big and dangerous when it needs fixing.

Living off the grid does limit some aspects of your power usage which children need to learn. You cannot turn on several big loads at the same time, especially when power supply has dropped, such as when a few leaves are covering the intake. For a two-year-old, it can be hard to understand why she can’t watch her favorite program on TV or listen to her favorite cd, but I also feel like these are good lessons in conservation. My children do not leave rooms without turning off lights, as they have always lived where this can be a necessity.

My six-year-old is just beginning to understand how our power system is better for the Earth, as she questions why there are so many power lines in towns. She has asked me where other people get their power, and she holds the same affinity for our creek that we do. By living off the grid, we are offering our children a unique opportunity to grow up leaving a smaller carbon footprint on our climate.

This portable, self-powered water and sanitation station has many sustainable features, including a composting toilet, rainwater collection and filtration system, and solar panels that, along with a battery, provide all the power the Clean Hub needs and then some. The idea came from folks at Shelter Architecture, but thanks to architecture and design students at the University of Minnesota, it will soon be put to use in New Orleans, where it will be the centerpiece of a community that will foster sustainable growth.

John Dwyer from Shelter Architecture, who also led the students in designing a prototype of the Clean Hub, describes the project:

Shelter developed the idea through a 2 year research and development process. We then brought it in to a studio to allow students to design and build a real world application of it.

The hub is totally off-grid, generating its own water through rain water collection, it's own electricity through photovoltaics, and its own sanitation through composting toilets and gray water irrigation.

The first prototype heads to a learning garden in the hardest hit area of New Orleans on June 21st, the summer solstice.

The architecture students at the University of Minnesota took the concept and ran with it, creating a low-cost solution based on a used storage container that can be easily transported to disaster-stricken areas to provide necessary infrastructure. It was built using recycled and donated parts, lots of elbow grease, and a green vision. The Clean Hub is a simple solution to a complex and common problem that is certainly more practical and sustainable than what FEMA currently uses!

The Clean Hub will be sent to the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, and will serve as a building block to a sustainable rebuilding effort supported by many local organizations. A community garden, farmer's market, and public gathering space will eventually surround it, leading to urban renewal with sustainability in mind.

Hopefully with the success of the Clean Hub in New Orleans, the idea can be continued to help provide water, sanitation, and renewable energy wherever it is needed around the globe. The design was created with urban slums and refugee camps in mind, both possible future homes of the Clean Hub.

This design encompasses cradle-to-cradle thinking, sustainable development, poverty relief, and community building as well as green design. It's not every day that architecture is used to save the planet and help the poor, but the Clean Hub was an opportunity for architecture professionals and students to do just that.

The Renewable Energy Handbook

$mart Power

Wiliam Kemp has written two books on renewable power and off-grid systems for homes, $mart Power (2004) and The Renewable Energy Handbook (2005). (Smart Power actually uses a dollar sign for the S in the title.) These two books are largely a first and second edition of the same text, with the second edition being expanded with several new chapters and additional information.

Both of Kemp’s books are comprehensive volumes. He addresses a range of alternate power generating options. There are chapters on photovoltaic (PV), wind, biomass, and micro hydro. More than just discussing the technical aspects of the generating systems, he also covers efficiency, interconection, “Heating and Cooling with Renewable Energy,” “Living with Renewable Energy,” and the other issues surrounding having a home with renewable systems. He also has a section about making biodiesel and another section about eco-pools (naturally-, rather than chemically-filtered swimming pool systems) and solar heated pools and hot tubs.

The Renewable Energy Handbook and $mart Power both go into some depth about renewable energy systems. Kemp shows all aspects of the various systems, dealing with hardware installation, electrical connection, and the range of what is necessary to install any of the systems he discusses. While I would not rely solely on these books for direction about installing a PV system or a wind turbine, it does provide a greater depth of information. A homeowner can get a better sense of the scope of work required for installing a renewable system, and have a better idea about what is involved, and whether or not it is something they want to take on.

The book is copiously illustrated with many black and white photographs. The systems are more clearly understood when there are pictures to show the components, which people may not be familiar with. And seeing how large a battery bank is, or seeing what an inverter panel looks like helps give some potential owners an idea of what they will need to deal with if they install these units in their own homes. There are also many diagrams and tables with useful information for an owner of a renewable energy system.

Kemp provides case studies in The Renewable Energy Handbook. Five homes where various combinations of renewable systems were installed are shown, including the author’s own 3,300 square foot home. Kemp is a Canadian, and at least three of the examples are located in Canada. Though the other two are not explicitly identified, I suspect that all five of them are in Canada. These are good examples to show that renewable energy systems need not be restricted to only choice locations. Renewable systems can be installed anywhere.

A considerable portion of the book is devoted to battery storage, as well as the chargers, inverters, and other components of a power system for a completely off-grid application. With contemporary inverters, grid-tied power systems only supply power when the grid is active. In most cases, grid-tied houses will use net-metering with the grid as the “backup battery.” That way, the issues of battery cost and maintenance can be avoided altogether. However, some kind of backup power (whether that be with batteries or with a backup generator) will be needed. The battery information may not be pertinent to everyone, but Kemp provides enough information for a potential owner to consider whether or not to choose a battery system.

Kemp is an electrical engineer, and he has lived in his own off-grid house for a number of years. He writes from his own experience in much of what he writes about, and many of the photographs illustrating different systems are taken in and around his own home. While he promotes efficiency, he repeatedly points out that a renewable lifestyle does not need to be a spartan one. There are choices and tradeoffs to be made, but the stereo, the big screen television, and the cappucino machine are not prohibited, they just need to be carefully considered and the best available selection needs to be chosen.

The only issue I would like to see these books address more thoroughly is the question of evaluating which systems are appropriate for a particular location. There are a lot of factors to be considered, and every system is not necessarily appropriate for every location. A chapter that discussed how to decide whether to install a wind turbine or photovoltaics would be a valuable addition to a very comprehensive book that packs in a lot of information.

I am going to lend my copy of The Renewable Energy Handbook to my in-laws. They are beginning to plan for building their retirement home, and they have discussed some ideas for renewable energy that they would like to incorporate there. They are very interested in wind power (since they will be building in a windy location close to the Lake Michigan shore). I’ve discussed some of these system with them, but I think this book will give them good information about the scope of what they will need to do if they build their house this way. And I would recommend the book to anyone else in similar circumstances, or who is thinking about adding a renewable energy system to their existing home.

Looking for your local Environmental Resource Center, EcoLibrary or environmental education programs? How about an epicenter for your local recycling programs, farmers markets, and a store that features the full spectrum of green books and household products?

Berkeley’s Ecology Center encompasses all of this and more by implementing programs that educate, demonstrate and engage with the public in the latest green community services.

Started as a volunteer-run meeting place for the founders of first wave 60’s environmentalism, the Ecology Center has become an epicenter for many of Berkeley’s programs that have become so fundamental to the Bay Area’s cultural and environmental impact.

Among the diverse programs implemented by the Ecology Center, the Curbside Recycling Program has perhaps had the most influence nationwide. Beginning as a demonstration project to collect newspapers, it grew to become the first curbside recycling program in California, and is one of the only nonprofits of this sort still alive today. Additionally, based on the EC’s research, this program has “served as a model for thousands of municipal recycling programs.”

For those of you interested in Bay Area green projects, check out Terrain, the Ecology Center’s free quarterly magazine focusing on “a broad spectrum of issues ranging from wilderness protection to urban toxics and environmental justice.”

Also, feel free to look into any of their sponsored projects, including: the Bay Area Seed Interchange Library, Berkeley Biodiesel Collective, Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative, and the Indigenous Permaculture Project. And the list of programs just keeps growing…
See all of these and more at http://www.ecologycenter.org/