Solar and Wind Power advice

[kapohokent]

I will soon be going off grid, where is the best place in the Puna? area for info and supplies on designing a Solar or Wind turbine? Any insight appreciated. Mahalo, Kent

[Carey]

There have been other threads on this in the forum, with a lot of good advise, so you may want to do a search in this forum...
there are a number of solar contractors & suppliers on the east side, wind is not as on the east (although there are many east side places that do run off of turbine assist, but I think many of them are not running a high load.....

[beejee]

kapohohent - I studied up some on green tech before coming out to Hawaii. I found Home Power (http://homepower.com/home/) to be a great starting point. You can get an online only membership, or get a magazine sent out (be warned hard mag subscription can take 4 months). Honestly though, the online magazine is a great place to start to learn the terminology and services and vendors. Then the fun begins, taking a deep dive into what you want to do. Best of luck to you!

Cheers!

[MarkP]

I'm in Eden Roc. I can't imagine wind power being viable here. Most days here are pretty still.

[solarrayes]

I would second the recommendation for Home Power. A great resource and magazine.
Please also look at my website: http://www.solarrayes.com
I'm just getting the website going. I have U.S. Batteries (http://www.usbattery.com/usb_index.html), the renewable energy line (http://www.usbattery.com/usb_solar_p1.html), made specifically for the harsh conditions of off-grid use. It is the premium battery on the market, at a fair price, and lower cost than the Rolls Batteries.
On the link above there is a handy solar calculator.
I also offer and install solar panels, inverters, charge controllers, battery monitoring kits, and most other accessories needed for off-grid setups.

[Bullwinkle]

refrigeration and water heating the biggest challenges imho - eat energy

the cfl bulbs a real godsend to the solar folks

have fun

[tada]

If you going off grid how about bypassing the inverter with 12v dc appiances-

http://www.truckingcomfort.com/


Local folks so ignorant of this stuff- Hawaii must have less penetration of these products than anywhere.

Any info about these products- just cheap China junk??