Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook: Your Complete Guide to Living beyond the Grid with Renewable Energy Technologies and Sustainable Living - 14th Edition-Revised ... and Updated (Everything Under the Sun)

Turn water scarcity into water abundance! Earthworks are one of the easiest, least expensive, and most effective ways of passively harvesting and conserving multiple sources of water in the soil. Associated vegetation then pumps the harvested water back out in the form of beauty, food, shelter, wildlife habitat, and passive heating and cooling strategies, while controlling erosion, increasing soil fertility, reducing downstream flooding, and improving water and air quality. Building on the information presented in Volume 1, this book shows you how to select, place, size, construct, and plant your chosen water-harvesting earthworks. It presents detailed how-to information and variations of a diverse array of earthworks, including chapters on mulch, vegetation, and greywater recycling so you can customize the techniques to the unique requirements of your site. Real life stories and examples permeate the book, including: How curb cuts redirect street runoff to passively irrigate flourishing shade trees planted along the street How check dams have helped create springs and perennial flows in once-dry creeks How infiltration basins are creating thriving rain-fed gardens How backyard greywater laundromats are turning "wastewater" into a resource growing food, beauty, and shade that builds community, and more. How to create simple tools to read slope and water flow More than 225 illustrations and photographs ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A MESSAGE FROM THE RGS ENERGY CEO FOREWORD: by Bill McKibben INTRODUCTION: by John Schaeffer, Real Goods Founder Chapter 1: RELOCALIZATION: A Strategic Response to Peak Oil and Climate Change Ecological Economics Overshoot Peak Oil and Implications for a Transportation-Dependent Economy Climate Change and the Need to Eliminate Fossil Fuels Relocalization: A Strategic Response to Overshoot Approaching Social Change Pioneering Solar Down on the Farm Chapter 2: LAND AND SHELTER: Designing and Building Your Green Dream Home The Impacts of Modern Building Passive Survivability Strategies for a Responsive Home Renovations and Development Building a New Home Passive Solar Design: A Primer Building Technologies The Healthy Home Your Home, Your Choice Words of Wisdom from Real Goods Staffers and Colleagues Spirit of the Sun Chapter 3: SUNSHINE TO ELECTRICITY: Creating Renewable Energy with Solar, Wind, and Hydroelectric Power What Are Photovoltaic Cells? Sixty Years of Photovoltaics System Examples PV Racking Wind and Hydro Power Sources Hydroelectricity Wind Energy Wind Energy and Wind Turbines - What You Need To Consider to Make a Decision Hydrogen Fuel Cells Chapter 4: FROM PANEL TO PLUG: How to Get Your Renewable Energy Source Powering Your Appliances A Renewable Energy System Primer: Putting It All Together Off-grid and Battery Backup System Sizing Worksheets Grid-tied Systems Converting Sunshine into Electricity What's the Payback? Safety and Fusing Charge Controllers Monitors Large Storage Batteries Real Goods' Battery Troubleshooting Guide Common Battery Questions and Answers Real Goods' Battery Care Class Rechargeable Batteries and Chargers Frequently Asked Questions About Rechargeable Batteries Inverters Potential Problems with Modified Sine Wave Inverter Use - and How to Correct Them Potential Problems with ALL Inverters - and How to Correct Them Inverter Conclusions Wire, Adapters, and Outlets Wire Sizing Chart/Formula RGS Energy Solar Project Case Study: Ironhouse Sanitary District RGS Energy Solar Project Case Study: Little Quittacas Solar Farm Chapter 5: EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND SOLAR MOBILITY: Be Empowered When the Grid Goes Down Want Some Protection, or at Least a Little Backup? How About Total Freedom? Steps to a Practical Emergency Power System What Do You Really Need in an Emergency? Conclusion Chapter 6: ENERGY CONSERVATION: Superefficient Lighting, Heating,and Cooling Are the First Steps Living Well but Inexpensively It All Starts with Good Design Retrofitting: Making the Best of What You've Got Conserving Electricity House Heating and Cooling Home Cooling Systems Energy-efficient Appliances Superefficient Lighting Lighting Characteristics Light Technology Chapter 7: WATER DEVELOPMENT: Reckoning with Our Most Precious and Endangered Resource The Three Components of Every Water System Solar-Powered Pumping Real Goods' Homestead Plumbing Recommendations Friction Loss Charts for Water Pumping Chapter 8: WATER HEATING: The Most Cost-effective Solar Alternative Common Water Heater Types Solar Water Heaters Types of Solar Water Heating Systems: Operation and Installation Chapter 9: WATER AND AIR PURIFICATION: Clean Water and Air Are Human Rights! The Need for Water Purification Methods of Water Filtration and Purification Air Purification Resources Chapter 10: COMPOSTING TOILETS AND GREYWATER SYSTEMS: Novel, Safe, and Clean Solutions to an Age-old Human Issue Reclaiming Valuable Resources What Is a Composting Toilet? Greywater Systems Chapter 11: REGENERATIVE HOMESTEADING AND FARMING: Growing Your Own Organically Using the Permaculture Principles While Living the Good Life Permaculture: A Holistic Design System for Your Site Biodynamic (R) Agriculture: Food and the Cosmos Biodynamic Preparations Resources Chapter 12: URBAN HOMESTEADING: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living Urban Permaculture Practice Gardening in the Urban Habitat Animals on the Urban Homestead Remaking Our Relationship to Food The Heirloom Kitchen Skills Natural Building Powering Down Greywater and Rainwater Use Waste Personal Ecology Resources Chapter 13: SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION: Toward a Future of Carbon-free Mobility The Problem with Fossil Fuels The Problem with Today's Motor Vehicles Hybrids and Other Low-emission Vehicles Biodiesel, Ethanol, and Other Biofuels Electric Vehicles Futuristic Vehicles? Chapter 14: NATURAL BURIAL: The Ultimate Back-to-the-land Movement Dying to Do the Right Thing When It's Time, Will You "Leave No Trace"? Cemetery Stewardship's Triple Bottom Line Crafting the Fond Farewell: It Takes a Plan What You Need for a Natural Burial A Place to Go Last Acts That Make a Difference: How Your Support of Environmentally Friendly Products Can Turn an Industry Around Chapter 15: THE REAL GOODS' SUSTAINABLE LIVING LIBRARY: Reading for a Renewable Future Garden, Farm, Food, and Community Land and Shelter Renewable Energy in Theory and Practice Building Types and Materials Peak Oil, Relocalization, and Politics Water Development References and Resources APPENDIX Part I: Who We Are and How We Got Here Part II: Living the Dream: The Real Goods Solar Living Center Part III: Spreading the Word: The Solar Living Institute Part IV: Getting Down to Business System Sizing Worksheets Power Consumption Table Solar Insolation Maps Solar Insolation by US City Magnetic Declination Charts in the United States Battery Wiring Diagrams Wire Sizing Chart/Formula Friction Loss Charts for Water Pumping Temperature Conversions Nominal Pipe Size Versus Actual Outside Diameter for Steel and Plastic Pipe The Real Goods' Resource List State Energy Offices Access Information Glossary ENDNOTES INDEX What book would you want if you were stranded on a desert island? Widely regarded as the "bible" of off-grid living, Real Goods Solar Living Source Book might be your best choice. With over six hundred thousand copies in print worldwide, it is the most comprehensive resource available for anyone interested in lessening their environmental footprint or increasing their energy independence. The Solar Living Sourcebook, Fourteenth Edition is the ultimate guide to renewable energy, sustainable living, natural and green building, off-grid living, and alternative transportation, written by experts with decades of experience and a passion for sharing their knowledge. This fully revised and updated edition includes brand new sections on permaculture and urban homesteading and completely rewritten chapters on solar technology, sustainable transportation, and relocalization. It also boasts greatly expanded material on: Natural building Permaculture and biodynamics Electric and biofuel-powered vehicles Passive solar Solar water heating Grid-tie photovoltaic systems plus maps, wiring diagrams, formulae, charts, electrical code, solar sizing worksheets, and much more. Whether you're a layperson or a professional, novice or longtime aficionado, the Sourcebook puts the latest research and information at your fingertips, everything you need to know to make sustainable living a reality. John Schaeffer is the president and founder of Real Goods, the foremost global source for tools and information on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable living. Since 1978, through Real Goods, he has pioneered solar technology in North America, providing over one hundred and fifty megawatts of solar power and helping to solarize over eighteen thousand homes

What book would you want if you were stranded on a desert island? Widely regarded as the 'bible' of off-grid living, The Solar Living Sourcebook might be your best choice. With over 600,000 copies in print worldwide, it is the most comprehensive resource available for anyone interested in lessening their environmental footprint and increasing their energy independence.

The Solar Living Sourcebook-14th Edition is the ultimate guide to renewable energy, sustainable living, natural and green building, off-grid living and alternative transportation, written by experts with decades of experience and a passion for sharing their knowledge. This fully revised and updated edition includes brand new sections on permaculture and urban homesteading, and completely rewritten chapters on solar technology, sustainable transportation and relocalization. It also boasts greatly expanded material on:

• Natural Building
• Permaculture and biodynamics
• Electric and biofuel-powered vehicles
• Passive solar
• Solar water heating
• Grid-tie photovoltaic systems

-- plus maps, wiring diagrams, formulae, charts, electrical code, solar sizing worksheets and much more.

Whether you're a layperson or a professional, novice or longtime aficionado, the Sourcebook puts the latest research and information at your fingertips-everything you need to know to make sustainable living a reality.

Earthworks Are One Of The Easiest, Least Expensive, And Most Effective Ways Of Passively Harvesting And Conserving Multiple Sources Of Water In The Soil. Associated Vegetation Then Pumps The Harvested Water Back Out In The Form Of Beauty, Food, Shelter, Wildlife Habitat, And Passive Heating And Cooling Strategies, While Controlling Erosion, Increasing Soil Fertility, Reducing Downstream Flooding, And Improving Water And Air Quality. Building On The Information Presented In Volume 1, This Book Shows You How To Select, Place, Size, Construct, And Plant Your Chosen Water-harvesting Earthworks. It Presents Detailed How-to Information And Variations Of A Diverse Array Of Earthworks, Including Chapters On Mulch, Vegetation, And Greywater Recycling So You Can Customize The Techniques To The Unique Requirements Of Your Site.--publisher's Website. Brad Lancaster ; Illustrated By Joe Marshall ... [et. Al.]. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 378-394) And Index. "Turn water scarcity into water abundance! Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1, 3rd Edition is the best-selling, award-winning guide on how to conceptualize, design, and implement life-enhancing water-, sun-, wind-, and shade-harvesting systems for your home, landscape, and community. This book enables you to assess your on-site resources, gives you a diverse array of strategies to maximize their potential, and empowers you with guiding principles to create an integrated, multi-functional plan specific to your site and needs."--Amazon "'Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1' is the first book in a three-volume guide that teaches you how to conceptualize, design, and implement sustainable water-harvesting systems for your home, landscape, and community. The lessons in this volume will enable you to assess your on-site resources, give you a diverse array of strategies to maximize their potential, and empower you with guiding principles to create an integrated, multi-functional water-harvesting plan specific to your site and needs."--Publisher description This volume is a do-it-yourself guide to designing, building, and maintaining water tanks, cisterns and ponds, and sustainably managing groundwater storage. It provides information on independent water systems, fire protection, and disaster preparedness -- at low cost and using by ecologically sound design. It also includes building instructions for several styles of ferrocement water tanks (tanks built of cement and sand applied over layers of woven or expanded steel mesh and closely spaced small-diameter rebar) This do-it-yourself guide is an invaluable resource for designing, building, and maintaining water tanks, cisterns, and ponds, and sustainably managing groundwater storage. It will assist you with handling your independent water system, fire protection setup, and disaster preparedness plan, while keeping costs low and incorporating ecologically sound designs. It also includes building instructions for several styles of ferro-cement water tanks.