the sustainable village appropriate technology in action mohammed bah abba nigeria mohammed bah abba discovered a way to use inexpensive locally available materials and make simple refrigeration systems easy to make inexpensive and requiring no electricity they still work incredibly well eggplants stay fresh for 27 days instead of the normal 3 peppers and tomatoes last 21 days or more and african spinach that normally spoils in just 1 day lasts for 12 by putting a smaller clay pot inside a larger one with wet sand in between he found that the natural evaporation creates a refrigeration process with a cost of only 30 cents we re experimenting to help improve this process by testing a solar powered fan blowing across the top of the pots as well as using a third outside pot filled with water perfect power for the next 5 billion years the best form of energy on earth is actually not on the earth but rather sitting 93 million miles out in space in the form of the giant fireball we call th
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solar water pumping solar slowpump the slowpump pushes water as high as 450 vertical feet it runs on very low power with or without batteries to supply between 200 and 2600 gallons per day these pumps ease the strain on your solar electric system by pumping at low currents throughout the day the vane pump mechanism housed in forged brass lasts for years of all-day running filtration is very important to protect this type of pump for pv-direct non-battery array watts must exceed pump watts by 20 or more and a current booster controller required can be hung by a rope in a large diameter well suspended within 20 feet of the water use 12 or 24v 1/4 hp slowpumps above the line in the chart and 1/2 hp slowpumps if your specs are below the line specify 12 or 24v solaram surface pump our most powerful surface pump pushes water uphill as much as 1000 vertical feet to supply as much as 5400 gallons per day prices range from $2200 to $3500 request specification sheet #2503 12 or 24v 1/4 hp#wp401
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water treatment no enemy aquamate pure water for gardens rv s at home in your backyard or on a camping or rv trip the aquamate assures that both you and your plants have good water brass hose fittings and swivel make attaching to hose or faucet easy chlorine kills microorganisms plants need to grow properly the aquamate removes chlorine from over 25,000 gallons of water plus reduces or eliminates lead sulfur rust scale and mineral build-up an old saying goes water has no enemies friendly water picks up small amounts of almost everything water reflects the amount of pollution in our world the proliferation of pesticides solvents chemical fertilizers giardia toxic waste dumps and radioactive contamination in rain creates serious health problems because of the run-off into our water systems chlorine used in most city water supplies in a gross effort to correct all these contaminates causes even more problems dr weston price in his book chlorine coronaries cholesterol makes a strong ca
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packaged system kits bp panels high efficiency top quality solar modules british petroleum makes these to high industry standards monocrystalline silicon cells for excellent power density stainless steel fasteners anodized aluminum frames gasketed junction box for corrosion protection ul listed 75 watt peak power voltage 17.1v dc peak short circuit current 4.6 amps dimensions 46.77 x 20.87 x 1.52 inches 90 watt peak power voltage 18.5v dc peak short circuit current 5.2 amps 90 watt panel has the same dimensions as the 75 watt but grid is laser grooved and buried to allow more light to strike the solar cells weight 17.64 lbs eva encapsulated 20 year warranty ul listed home power systems how much does a solar electric system cost different people s solar electric systems vary as much as different people s houses or utility bills the best way to design a system is to list all the appliances and lights you think you will use find out how much power each uses and estimate how long per avera
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power conditioning automatic voltage switchers connect between unstable grid power and an electrical appliance for constant protection the most complete power protection device these special switches constantly monitor grid power when the electricity supply fails or there is a voltage fluctuation beyond preset acceptable limits in a 230 vac system when voltage drops below 190v or rises over 260v 93v and 132v for 120 vac systems it disconnects your appliance before the low or high voltage can hurt it monitoring continues and the main supply is reconnected only when supply resumes and/or the voltage stabilizes as a further safeguard the supply only reconnects when the voltage remains stable for a predetermined time normally one minute leds show at a glance the state of the system the switch activates within one cycle of the supply except when the mains voltage goes below the lower limit by less than about 20 in which case it reacts in about 0.5 seconds this prevents disconnect as a res
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safety components battery combiners battery isolators can cause a voltage drop of about .7 volts that may undercharge the batteries and waste up to 70 watts as heat they only work with alternator charge current and won t switch battery combiners cost more but solve the above problems and let you add in the system solar modules generators and inverter/chargers they parallel the batteries whenever any battery is being charged and automatically disconnect led lights when batteries combined delta lightning protection lightning and static discharge cause more problems with pv systems than any other cause unseen lightning miles away can create high voltage that damages sensitive electronics inverters controls and fluorescent ballasts our lightning protectors divert this high voltage away from your equipment and send it to grounding rods cold water pipes or buried copper wire surge rating 50,000 amps 5,000 volts 5 nanosecond response time for either 12 or 24v systems 2 banks 70 amp 3 banks 70
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tools the ultimate multi-purpose independence tool kit imagine this a human-powered tool that without any other power source could turn a powerful table saw drill belt sander or wood lathe grind grain into flour sharpen tools wash and spin dry laundry pump water recharge a laptop or cell phone operate a computer or television even help replace a solar electric system on cloudy days something from a futuristic science fiction novel actually it s a 19th century technology reinvented for 21st century life styles a footoperated push bar flywheel similar to the working parts on an old singer treadle sewing machine faster and easier than bicycle generators and includes variable speed settings 750 1350 or 1750 rpms kit has over 175 pieces all the precision machined parts needed the flywheel chain gear and sprockets for power take-off everything but the structural wood it takes about 40 hours of hard work and you ll need a good table saw and router 8 pages of computer-drawn plans include comp
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communications non-fcc not approved for use in the u.s just because you re off the grid does not mean you have to be without phone service in today s society a phone is a necessity we offer several high quality phone solutions simply connect our cordless phone base station to any telephone line and use the handset at a remote location up to 70km away from the phone line the basic 258r range up to 70km a great price high quality and exceptional performance but without all of the extra bells and whistles this rugged system offers a user customizable range of up to 70km and has a built in scrambler for voice privacy a small handset long battery life clear sound quality and a headset jack make this system a top choice for the budget minded as your communications needs grow the system may be expanded to include as many as 15 handsets which may communicate with one another in 2 way radio mode and our popular g2 linear amplifiers cm8807 may be added to increase the range this unit is our
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water heating sunbather water heaters eliminate most or all of your water heating costs with this easy-to-install passive solar batch collector sunlight passes through two tempered glass plates then heats a black chrome-coated storage tank an insulated cabinet and dual glazing keep the water hot the heated water then goes into a backup water heater or directly to point of use mount on ground or roof no pumps electricity or moving parts to wear out easy to install just 2 connections cold water in and hot water out best for warm climates preheating water summer only in cold places or when hot water needed only in afternoons evenings 40 gallon tank 26 x 36 x 78 150 lbs specify if plumbing is on east or west side when ordering solar thermal pipe make your own solar collector very popular in israel this is the least expensive quality way to heat your water you could also just use black plastic pipe but it won t last long and lots of nasties will get into the water this special kitec c
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books the blacksmithing instructors guide sixteen lesson plans with teaching advice designed to help skilled blacksmiths train others in forge techniques uses easily obtainable equipment and scrap metal to produce tools like hoes sickles hammers and axes outlines a comprehensive approach to teaching with illustrated lesson plans and key points to emphasize at each demonstration stage 70 pages ecology environment island technology sustainable fishing forestry and mining from an island point of view a critical look at the effects of western technology and proposals for better approaches covers a wide range of topics from agriculture and forestry to banking communications and health 384 pages #bk137 $36 #bk326 $32 the canning freezing curing smoking of meat fish game if you hunt fish or raise livestock here s a great intro to meat preservation chapters on butchering freezing canning drying and preserving smoke ham make jerky very comprehensive and clear discussion on the techniques sh
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