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Books : The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy: Achieving Energy Independence through Solar, Wind, Biomass and Hydropower (Mother Earth News Wiser Living)In association with Amazon.comRating:  - Ok book.Could have used more content on solar theory and techniques, and less on what is available commercially... More DIY info would be better. MJL Rating:  - The bible of renewable energy for the home. This is an outstanding, readable, comprehensive presentation of the subject of renewable energy for the homeowner. For each topic the author presents the principles, salient facts and a range of projects from the simplest do-it-yourself to that which would require a professional installation. Illustrations are excellent. In solar hot water for example he presents projects which range from a mini batch system consisting of a coiled black hose to a professionally installed all weather solar collector, storage with on-demand gas supplement. Based on this reading I plan to build a freestanding outdoor thermosiphon solar shower using cast off materials and to replace an inefficient hot water tank with a propane on-demand all season hot water heater. Chiras educates the homeowner to think broadly and to plan very manageable projects suited to his/her needs. Superb! Rating: - Very interesting and readable bookNot only did I find this book useful, I enjoyed reading this book. I am not a techy science person, nor do I usually seek out nonfiction, but I found that this book was written for people like me - people who are interested in making some changes in our homes to help our planet and lower our bills. The book was set up with clear chapters outlining the pros and cons of various types of renewable energy sources (wind, water, solar, and more) and how we can retrofit our homes to use them. It contained several comparison charts for the different options described, including cost comparisons, and the author provided detailed information about the information in those charts. The book also explored small changes we could easily make, and there was a section about the future of renewable energy. Written to be thoroughly understandable and readable, this book helped me become much more aware of things I could do to make some "green" changes, which was exactly the information I was seeking. All in all I recommend this book highly! Rating: - Good review to renewable energyI found this book to be more satisfying that the author's more popular book, "The Solar House". Of course, they aren't functional substitutes for each other. This book goes deeper into renewable energy systems available to address the energy needs of residential buildings and related topics. I appreciate his discussion on conservation, the breakdown of the energy consumption of a 'typical' residence, etc. This book goes deeper into energy than "The Solar House" goes into passive design, providing almost enough information to evaluate and size some systems. The amount of information presented varies by system, as solar photovoltaic and wind power get a more detailed treatment than biomass. For someone wanting enough information to select, size and/or design systems -- or more realistically to evaluate the proposals generated by a systems provider -- supplemental information will probably be required. Rating: - A decent overview; left me wanting more details.I read this book cover-to-cover over the course of a couple of weeks. I'm new to the field of renewable energy, so you'll have to take my criticisms for what they are, a critique of the writing: 1) The author frequently repeats himself, and sometimes goes so far to state that he is repeating himself, and that the reader should refer back to a previous section. 2) Many of the references are "so and so claims such and such" or references to the Home Power magazine. It's great that the author cites his sources, but it often left me wondering if the author placed any stock in the claim being reported. 3) The author frequently refers to his own house, which was designed from the ground up to use renewable energy. While this is neat, it doesn't seem applicable to readers who already own houses (with a 99% chance that they're not nearly as efficient, and that it's not possible to convert them). 4) I would have enjoyed more information on solar power, since it seems to be the most applicable in urban and suburban areas. Instead, it received basically equal treatment alongside micro-hydroelectric and wind power. Still, it's a good book - 3.5 stars - and contains a number of references to other sources of information on the topic. |
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