Keep the Ice On
By Jeffrey R. Yago, P.E., C.E.M.
Self-Reliance, Fall 2019
When I ask most people why they own or are looking to buy a generator, most will say it is to keep a refrigerator or freezer operating....
Solar power trailer Part 1
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #108 • November/December, 2007
Many of us like to go camping, but as we age it's much easier if we have a bathroom, kitchen, refrigerator, microwave oven, television, DVD player,...
Dim bulbs in California
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #107 • September/October, 2007
By now many of us have heard that under a bill proposed by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D), the state of California is about to become the...
Why you need to addsolar to your emergencypower backup plans
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #149 • September/October, 2014
Click Here to listen to an interview with Jeff about this article.
Most of the electric substations, transmission lines, and electrical switchgear for any given utility are...
Solar power trailer Part 2
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #109 • January/February, 2008
In Part I of this article in the November/December 2007 issue, I described the many uses for a solar power system that could be made totally...
Make your own biodiesel for 80¢ per gallon
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #101 • September/October, 2006
My Ford F-250 diesel crew-cab pickup did not cause me to become interested in making my own bio-diesel fuel. No, the final straw was when I...
Solar-powered refrigerators
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #102 • November/December, 2006
In Issue #99, I discussed the importance of using the most energy-efficient appliances you can buy for any remote cabin or off-grid solar application. I also...
Build a simple solar-powered outdoor light
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #92 • March/April, 2005
Figure 1. Pole-mounted street light showing a front view of the solar light
In our last issue, I discussed how to use solar energy to power a...
Just for Kids: Sun-kabobs and solar sizzle
By Lucy Shober
Issue #28 • July/August, 1994
Click on pictures for printable, full-sized versions to color.
Picture yourself in this dreamy scenario: It's a hot summer afternoon. The sun is beaming through the shade trees as...
Prepper power! Part 2
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #137 • September/October, 2012
I discussed in Part 1 the many reasons why preppers need to think more long-term about providing reliable electric power. I also mentioned that while it's...
Build your own battery charging station
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #142 • July/August, 2013
Completed charging station after sanding and painting
Let me guess the reason many of you do not use rechargeable batteries is that every time you need...
Energy class: Part 3
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #113 • November/December, 2008
In Part I of this series of articles, we reviewed how home utility costs will be the next energy source expected to have major cost increases...
Don’t discount a generator, especially a diesel generator, as your primary power source
By Skip Thomsen
Issue #28 • July/August, 1994
There are three major reasons that wind, solar or hydro-electric systems are impractical for some folks: not enough wind, too many cloudy days, and no stream. In that...
Job site solar power
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #144 • November/December, 2013
Regardless of your favorite brand, standardize all
battery-powered tools to use the same battery pack.
If you are planning to live off-grid or are building something in a...
Solar Food Drying
By Marcella Shaffer
Issue #58 • July/August, 1999
The oldest known method of food preservation is drying food using the heat from the sun. Unfortunately it has become the least used as freezers and pressure canners...
Design calculations for no-head, low-head waterwheels
By Rudy Behrens
Issue #17 • September/October, 1992
(This is the second of our three-part series on waterwheels. The third installation (Issue No. 18) will deal with overshot wheels. -- Editor.)
For those of you who are...
