Resources

Here are some resources that I've found to be very valuable.  There is a daunting amount of information and misinformation out there.  There are also a lot of people who are trying to exploit others who are attempting to find answers and solutions.  You have to be careful about what you buy into.  For me it's all about low cost solutions and DIY projects.


Solar Energy-
Free Sun Power is a great source of information.  There are tutorials, example systems and design tools to help you determine what type of system you may need.  It's very worthy of some investigation.


DIY Solar Depot (FAQ) has links to some good calculators and information on insolation (measure of solar radiation energy for a given region)


Michel Bluejay (Electricity) This site is very educational about many things.  Electricity is just one of them.  This is a good place to learn in general and is presented in a very interesting way.  He'll even tell you how not to get hit by a car.


altE Store has plenty of info on solar systems, the different components and how to size them.

Solar Cell Encapsulation:

Making decent solar panels part 1

Making decent solar panels part 2 and

Making decent solar panels part 3 This guy is brilliant in a very common sense sort of way.  When it comes to solar cell encapsulation, as far as I'm concerned, there's only one good way to do and that is with EVA, but the equipment needed is expensive and not feasible for someone who is building panels for themselves.  This guy has the answer.  I'm a little afraid of his oven idea but I think it can be done with a solar hot box.

Build it Solar - Lot of DIY projects for several uses of solar energy.  Hot water, etc..

Conserving -

US Composting Council is a very informative site for composting information