Updated:07/09/2010 ENTIRE
SITE IS COPYRIGHT 2010, MC PHOTOGRAPHY
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Learn about
alternative energy, hybrid systems and watch pointless videos!
If you have any
questions, contact us.
I'm always happy to provide a convoluted answer to a simple question.
At this site, you can learn from my real world experiences
in solar energy production and how I produce power at our cabin in Northern
Michigan. The cabin is located right on the 45th parallel near Gaylord,
Michigan. Check out our photography
site which has some photos around the cabin in the nature and winter
sections.
While this format of the site will stay
here as it is, more of our updates and new articles will be in the new
format. Visit the
new format site here.
Peukerts formula helps you design an
alternative energy system by showing the real world capacity of your
bank!
First of all, welcome to our site! We've been
around for several years and conduct all kinds of half baked DIY projects on our
show, This Old Shack. Be sure to check out all
of our half witted articles and pages. If you have questions, just Email
us and we will do our best to confuse you beyond all belief.
Disaster
planning should be part of every single household across America, strike that,
the world. When disaster strikes, people die or lives are c80%hanged. In times of
plenty, forego the Playstations and buy extra food. You can explain a lack of
toys better than a lack of food to your children.
In
1980 our military switched its entire food ration program over to the full
moisture MRE pouch system. These are the meals we tested on "This Old
Shack". Check
them out here.
"This Old Shack" is a edumacational
series hosted by Bill Xam. You'll remember
Bill in his roll as Frank "FU"
Utley, star of "CSI SALINE" about a
disgraced detective who is forced to take a job in
a small town in southeastern Michigan.
This Old Shack is sponsored
by:
"The Small
Basement Moving Guide"; great for
parents of college age kids who are fed up.
"Billy-Bob's
Garage Parking for Idiots"; a great
little book for your "guests" (see above
sponsor) who can't figure out how to park in a
garage. A must have for families.
Acme Duct Tape;
from the makers of "Roadrunner Atomic Bird
Seed". It'll fix your crap.
Ambrose
Butterbutt talent agency; "If I can
get my dad a great gig like "This Old
Shack" imagine what I can do for you!
This is a very short episode that explains what aerodynamics is and how it
works. Aerodynamics and aerodynamic resistance is the single most important
aspect of your gas mileage at highway speeds.
Update: The survival episode has turned into an ongoing project. There are as
of June 1, 2008 two parts completed of this episode. The editing
process is longer than normal because of the nature of the subject. The survival episode includes endless blather and as a bonus how to prepare
survival food! We add more parts as they are completed.
It's a brand new season of This Old Shack and we take up right where we left off
- on a pointless effort to induce the internet public to waste a few moments of
their lives watching a show about alternative energy.
One of our hobbies is chasing storms. Here is a video of the storm that knocked
out power to 250,000 people in the Detroit area. Two lightning strikes 20 feet
in front of the camera.
This is actually the 3rd thunderstorm video. This was taken at the shack and
features a lightning strike at the end of the dock that we're shooting the video
on.
There are several people on various newsgroups and discussion areas that waylay in uninformed or those just starting out in the off grid world of self power generation. This involves an almost religious belief in a phantom 6v golf cart true deep cycle battery that is superior in every way to any other battery in existence.
A simple examination of the specification sheet for a line of 6v and 12v off grid batteries will tell you quite clearly that there is no one single best solution for all circumstances. It is not accurate to say one is best.
Our system has been using the much maligned Harbor Freight 45 watt solar panel kits for 4 years. Over these years, we've moved them back and forth from the main home in Saline, Michigan to the shack in Gaylord. They've been dropped, exposed to heavy rain, snow, sleet, hail. One even has even had the glass on it shattered from a tree limb dropping on it.
Look, using testing equipment is all well and
good but those spec sheets don't mean squat if you can't run YOUR stuff
for as long as you want to. So what I do (so you don't have to) is get the
equipment (batteries, inverters, solar panels) and put what I run on it.
Usually about 30-50 watts at 12 volts - few amps of draw. You know, turning
lights on and off, running a computer (a laptop) and whatnot.
Throughout the test, a digital meter is run on
the bank and a hydrometer is used once an hour to determine whether the meter is
reading the correct voltage. During the sunlight hours on the panels, there is
another digital meter installed at the primary junction box (where the panels
feed into the 10 gauge cables that feed to the charge controller) that measures
panel voltage and amps.
One of the things that I like the best about
alternative energy is that you can make it as complicated or simple as you like.
Some people, even though they use alternative energy simply don't have a good
grasp on the entire substance that goes into the makeup of an engineered system
that has been built from scratch.
Don't ask me why, but I've recently become interested in
studying earthquake/volcano activity around the world; ash plumes and such. I've
added a page with RSS feeds and links to satellite imagery.
